MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Nov. 1, 2015) — In a race that saw many twists, turns, crashes and spins, Martin Truex Jr. rallied to finish sixth in the drama-filled Chase event at Martinsville Speedway.
The final result lifted the Furniture Row Racing driver into a second-place tie in the first of three races in the Eliminator Round of eight drivers. Four drivers from this round of the Chase playoffs advance to the championship round at the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Truex is nine points to the good from the fifth-place cutoff position.
Starting second and leading 27 consecutive laps early in the Sprint Cup Series race at the half-mile oval, Truex started to experience handling issues as he bounced in and out of the top 10 in the 500-lapper. But what has been a typical scenario for the single-car team based out of Denver, Colo., Truex’s No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet got stronger in the closing stages of the race.
Before the final caution waved to send the race into a green-white-checkered finish, Truex was holding down fourth place in track position. But when the race was restarted he was stuck in the outside lane, which was a disadvantage for drivers all day.
“We knew coming into the three Eliminator Round races that Martinsville was going to be a tough challenge,” said Truex, who recorded his 21st top 10 of the season. “Considering some of the handling issues we struggled with today, coming away sixth is a pretty good feeling.”
Cole Pearn, one of two rookie crew chiefs in the Eliminator Round, was also pleased with the finish.
“This was our wildcard race,” said Pearn. “It was typical short track racing today and it’s never easy here. We got better at the end and I am pleased with our finish and feel good about where we are going for the next two Chase races (Fort Worth and Phoenix).”
Truex, who is making his third career Chase appearance, was once again thrilled with the team’s never-give-up attitude.
“For a while it didn’t look good for us, but as I keep on saying this team never quits,” noted Truex. “Our car was just really fast on short runs and really terrible on long runs. We really fought it all day long. We just couldn’t keep the tires on it on long runs. It was frustrating at times, but we battled hard and did what we had to do today.
“We probably would have finished fourth or fifth without that last caution. I didn’t want to see it there, but all-in-all, it was what we needed to do here. It’s definitely my worst track in this round. Hopefully we can take this No. 78 to Texas and have something for the win and see if we can’t get one there.”
He added, “I’m glad the fans got to see a good ending and I’ve got to say congratulations to Jeff (Gordon, winner). It’s an awesome career he’s had and it was fun racing with him today. There was a time today after that last restart; I almost got a run on him to pass him. That would have been possibly the winning move, but he was just really stout. It’s cool to see him win in his last time here.”
With the victory, Gordon automatically advances to the final four. Rounding out the top-10 finishers in order were: Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch (eliminator round driver), Truex (eliminator round driver), Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick (eliminator round driver), Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart.
The race had 21 lead changes among nine drivers and 18 cautions for 109 laps. The race was also red flagged for 12 minutes after a lap 455 accident.
The next Sprint Cup Series race is Sunday, Nov. 8 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
Eliminator Round Points Standings
1. Jeff Gordon, 4047 points (automatically advances to final four)
2. Kyle Busch, 4039*
3. Martin Truex Jr., 4039
4. Kevin Harvick, 4037
5. Carl Edwards, 4030
6. Brad Keselowski, 4013
7. Kurt Busch, 4011
8. Joey Logano, 4009
*Kyle Busch gets the nod over Truex since he finished higher in the race.
