2021 Goodyear 400 Review: Truex Jr. makes history with dominant Darlington win

Martin Truex Jr. became the first driver to win a stage and the race as he swept all three stages on his way to the checkered flag in NASCAR’s throwback weekend at Darlington.

Truex Jr. led 248 laps as the only multiple winner of the season added a third victory to his tally for the year.

After dominating most of the race, Kyle Larson undercut Truex Jr. at the last round of green flag pit stops, getting within 0.2 seconds of the leader to set up an interesting dash to the flag, however the JGR driver would extend the gap after the pair negotiated lapped traffic to win by two and half seconds.

It was a tough day at the track too tough to tame for Stewart-Haas as Aric Almirola and Cole Custer wrecked out in similar circumstances as they were helped on the collision course with the inside wall. Almirola was out after six laps after contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in turn two, while Anthony Alfredo turned Custer at the same place during stage two. SHR’s top performer was once again Kevin Harvick, finishing sixth, although his car has been taken to be investigated by NASCAR. Chase Briscoe finished a solid 11th.

Denny Hamlin, still yet to claim a win, led laps once again, however the JGR driver made contact with the wall on worn tyres in stage two and would have to settle for fifth. It would be a better day for team-mate Kyle Busch, he finished third after recovering from a stage one spin while leading. Christopher Bell brought the remaining JGR Toyota Camry home 14th.

It was a solid day for William Byron, he joined Larson in making it two Hendrick Chevys in the top five as he had a trouble free day to finish fourth. After starting from the back of the field due to unapproved adjustments, Chase Elliott had a solid day to drive his way back to the top 10, finishing seventh.

Pole sitter Brad Keselowski endured a difficult afternoon, he finished back in 24th, three laps down on the leaders. Ryan Blaney was Penske’s best finisher, bringing his Ford Mustang home eighth, while Joey Logano brought his Mario Andretti tribute home 13th.

It was a positive outing for Roush-Fenway however, as Chris Buescher and Ryan Newman put both cars in the top 10 for the first time since the 2020 Daytona 500, finishing ninth and tenth respectively.

Bubba Wallce, piloting an excellent Wendell Scott livery, got unlucky. Kurt Busch slid up in front of Wallace’s Camry, leaving the 23 with nowhere to go as he helped Busch on his journey to the inside wall. Despite sitting in the free pass position to rejoin the lead lap, NASCAR adjudged Wallace to have been involved in Busch’s crash, therefore denying him the lucky dog. He would end up in 21st as 23XI Racing continue to try and find their feet in their debut campaign.

Race Results:

1. Martin Truex Jr

2. Kyle Larson

3. Kyle Busch

4. William Byron

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Chase Elliott

8. Ryan Blaney

9. Chris Buescher

10. Ryan Newman

11. Chase Briscoe

12. Tyler Reddick

13. Joey Logano

14. Christopher Bell

15. Ross Chastain

16. Austin Dillon

17. Alex Bowman

18. Erik Jones

19. Matt DiBendetto

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr

21. Bubba Wallace

22. Corey LaJoie

23. Daniel Suarez

24. Brad Keselowski

25. Ryan Preece

26. Anthony Alfredo

27. Michael McDowell

28. Justin Haley

29. JJ Yeley

30. Quin Houff

31. James Davison

32. BJ McLeod

33. Josh Bilicki

34. Cody Ware

35. Kurt Busch

36. Cole custer

37. Aric Almirola