Three Takeaways: Truex's clean racing edges Hamlin, JGR continues to dominate
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – NASCAR’s shortest asphalt track became a long grind for Cup drivers on Sunday, as they tussled for four hours at the 0.526-mile Martinsville Speedway.
Emerging from the grind was a familiar face – Martin Truex Jr. – who earned his second win of the season by passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin with 16 laps left in the 500-lap race.
It was Truex’s third win in the past four races at Martinsville, which awards a grandfather clock to the race winner.
"There was a time when I thought there was no chance in hell I’d have a clock, so to have three and to have a shot at even more than that has been amazing," Truex said.
Chase Elliott passed Hamlin late for second place. Hamlin was third, followed by William Byron and Kyle Larson in a race — suspended after 42 laps Saturday night because of rain – that featured 15 caution flags for 102 laps.
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Here are my takeaways from Martinsville:
1. Big race stretch
Martinsville was the first of five consecutive race tracks that are in the playoffs:
– Martinsville, which is the final elimination race of the third (semifinal) round, determining the four drivers eligible for the championship.
– Richmond, which is the second race of the opening round. (FYI: Truex has won two of the past three races there).
– Kansas, which is the first race of the third (semifinal) round, a key race considering that winning the race gives a team two extra weeks to focus on its car for the championship.
– Talladega, the second race of the second (quarterfinal) round.
– Darlington, the opening race of the playoffs.
"Obviously, every race is important, but being that they are playoff tracks is definitely important," Truex said a few days before his win, as he approached this stretch. "I don’t know that you can look and say, 'Here are the guys that are going to do good in the playoffs just because they run well the next few weeks.'
"A lot changes in between now and then. I look forward to hopefully running well and hopefully getting a few more wins, and building a notebook for the playoffs is definitely an important thing."
But Sunday could be telling, as Truex and Elliott have combined to win the past four races at Martinsville.
"They're all important, but for sure, when you get down to that Round of Eight [semifinal round], if you're still alive in that deal, a win at any of those tracks gives you an opportunity," Elliott said. "As long as it's where it's at in the final 10, it will always be an important race [in the spring]."
For teams that have a win and know they are pretty much locked into the playoffs, the next five races pose an opportunity. Truex was one of those and became the first two-time winner in 2021 after seven different drivers won the first seven races.
"We’ve won a race already, which allows us to experiment a little bit with some stuff to try and get ahead for the playoffs," Martin Truex Jr. crew chief James Small said. "That’s the philosophy.
"We just need to do our best and build on our notes and generate a good baseline for when we go back because it is going to be so important."
Team Penske driver Joey Logano finished sixth and felt his car was "OK" – but is that a concern, considering where Martinsville is on the schedule?
"I still think this is a good track for us," Logano said. "Any way you look at it, this has been a pretty solid one for Penske in general and for the 22 [of me], so we came here trying a couple different things.
"We don’t have practice to know if it’s better or not, so things we felt like were probably going to be better, and we’ll probably have to decide which one wasn’t better tomorrow. I’m not super concerned at the moment."
2. Teammate racing clean
Truex and Hamlin had a solid battle side-by-side for several laps before Truex got the lead.
It had team owner Joe Gibbs hoping they wouldn’t wreck each other – both have had drama at Martinsville with drivers on other teams – but Truex said he knew he would get by Hamlin as long as he was patient because Hamlin’s car appeared to be getting worse, and Truex said his car was getting better.
"There was no sense in pushing it with plenty of laps left, and the 9 [of Elliott] was pretty far back," Truex said. "I’m 40, so I’ve learned over the years that you’re better off being patient than not.
"It pays off in the long run, usually."
Hamlin knew his strength was on the short runs, and the more laps that ticked off over green, Truex would get by him.
"It was a matter of time," Hamlin said. "With about 25 to go or so, he already got into my rear bumper, kind of beating the back end off."
3. Still three top teams
Three organizations – Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports – entered the race with nine drivers in the top 10 in points (Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick was the other).
Maybe it was no surprise that those three organizations dominated, leading 477 of the 500 laps – with Bubba Wallace the sole exception, leading 23 laps after staying out when most of the leaders pitted. Those three organizations took the top seven spots and eight of the top 10.
"It’s always hard to say – we’re only just getting started eight races in," said Joe Gibbs, whose cars have three wins in the first eight races. "It’s constantly been going through the year. Somebody gets up pretty good, and then somebody else steps up
"It’s going to be hard-fought all year. I was really happy today for us. I get excited when all four of our cars run well."
Hamlin led a race-high 276 laps, and Penske driver Ryan Blaney led 157.
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!