The STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway was a day full of highs and lows for both Furniture Row Racing drivers.
The good news for Martin Truex Jr. was that he won the first stage of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. He picked up an additional 10 standing points and one playoff point. He now leads the Cup series with four stage wins and ranks second with nine playoff points, which carry through the first three rounds of the postseason.
But after winning the first stage (Lap 130 of 500), Truex’s No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota was never the same on the half-mile track. He struggled with handling issues and brought the flat-black car home to a 16th-place finish.
Though the result was Truex’s worst in the first six races of the 2017 season, he still remained third in the driver point standings.
“I just couldn’t drive off the corner,” said Truex. “The car pushed and nothing appeared to be right after the first stage. It was nice to at least get something out of the race by winning the first stage and picking up more valuable points. Those extra playoff points could turn out to be very important when we get into the post season.”
Jones day was a mixed bag that, in the end, showcased the determination the Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate and his 5-hour ENERGY team have. After a 17th-place finish in the first stage, crew chief Chris Gayle chose to leave the No. 77 Toyota Camry on the track since they’d made a stop for fuel and tires just 24 laps before. The decision moved Jones up to fifth for the start of the second stage and he took advantage of a 128-lap green-flag run to finish eighth, earning three valuable championship points in doing so.
The third and final segment saw Jones drop to 18th and then have to make a green-flag stop on lap 383 for a tire rub after contact with the No. 13 of Ty Dillon. Then, on Lap 418, the 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry was collected in a multi-car accident in Turn 3, causing extensive damage to the hood and right-front side of the car. However, the repaired damage actually seemed to help the handling of the car, allowing Jones to restart 20th on Lap 428 and then pick up eight positions in the final 73 laps.
Jones gained two spots to 13th in the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series point standings.
“There were a lot of ups and downs for the 5-hour ENERGY team today,” said Jones. “I thought at one point we had a pretty good car. We were running up in the top five but as the day went on we kind of lost the handle on it, got tight in the center and just never could really get it back. Right up there at the end we went two laps down. We had to pit under green. We had a tire rub and after that the 5-hour ENERGY Camry got caught up in an accident, but honestly after that was the best we were all day. Not exactly sure where we came home, but that’s a good recovery for us. Finishing 12th isn’t the day we wanted but we’ll definitely take it for the first time here at Martinsville.”
The race winner was Brad Keselowski. Rounding out the top-10 in order were: Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
The race had 18 lead changes among seven drivers and 14 cautions for 95 laps.
The next NASCAR Cup Series race is Sunday, April 9 at the repaved 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.