MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Martin Truex Jr. led a record-setting 464 laps dominating the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway to score his seventh victory of the season. It was his 26th NASCAR Cup Series win, the first at the .526-mile track and his 12th top-10 finish in 28 starts at Martinsville.
He didn't quite have the best car or the dominating car, but Martin Truex Jr. was there at the end in case Kyle Larson would happen to make a mistake and leave an opening.
Martin Truex Jr. came into the final Round of 16 with momentum after collecting two of the three wins in the first round. Coming into the Charlotte Roval Truex was looking to sweep the entire round for the first time in his career.
After making contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. mid-race, Martin Truex Jr. was able to rebound. He took the lead from his teammate Kyle Busch with 25 laps to go en route to his sixth victory of the season.
Martin Truex won Stage 2 at Las Vegas and later passed Kevin Harvick for the lead with 20 laps to go. Truex then eased to victory and secured his place in the next round of the playoffs.
Erik Jones and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team were facing the possibility of not making the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as they headed into the weekend at Pocono Raceway.
