Martin Truex, Jr. Dominates at Dover

Martin Truex, Jr.

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It was a Martin Truex Jr. blowout, a Jamie McMurray blow-up and a Jimmie Johnson "We blew it again."

Truex cruised to a decisive victory in Sunday's Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway, a race that pared the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field from 16 drivers to 12.

Winning for a fourth time this season, a second time at Dover and the seventh time in his career, Truex was without peer after a pit road snafu on Lap 279 of 400 knocked Johnson off the lead lap and out of contention for the win.

Racing at the track closest to his Mayetta, N.J. home, Truex beat runner-up Kyle Busch to the finish line by 7.527 seconds, bettering his 7.355 margin of victory at The Monster Mile in his 2007 maiden win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

If Truex wasn't considered the driver to beat after his Chase-opening victory at Chicagoland, he will be after drubbing the rest of the competition on Sunday.

"We're not messing around, I guess," Truex said, understating the case for his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team. "I don't know–what else can you say? We're here to get it done, and, golly I'm telling you just the best bunch of guys you could ever ask for. It's just amazing to drive their race cars and do what we were able to do. I'm just ecstatic.

"I mean, this is just unbelievable. Especially here–I love this race track. It's been considered a home track for me for a long time. It's been since '07 since I won here. Have a lot of heartbreaks here, but all in all, just a phenomenal race car again today. Golly, man, it's just … I've got to pinch myself. We're ready to go to Charlotte (for the opening race in the Round of 12)."

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Chase drivers dominated the top nine in the finishing order, with Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Johnson, Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin running third through ninth, respectively.

All nine drivers advanced to the Chase's Round of 12, along with Carl Edwards (14th on Sunday), Kurt Busch (15th) and Kevin Harvick, who blew a tire on Lap 34, went to the garage for repairs and finished 37th, one lap down.

But Harvick's calamity wasn't costly, because his victory at New Hampshire last weekend provided a guaranteed spot in the Round of 12.

McMurray and Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Kyle Larson had no such insurance policy, and both were bounced from the Chase on Sunday. Larson suffered ignition problems early on and later scraped the Turn 3 wall on Lap 182 to cause the third of four cautions.

He finished 25th, six laps down and ceded his spot in the Round of 12 to Dillon, whose strong, steady performance ensured three more races as a championship contender.

After complaining of a drive-train vibration in his No. 1 Chevrolet, McMurray saw his worst fears realized when his car erupted in a huge plume of smoke on Lap 193, causing the final caution. McMurray retired in 40th place, joining Chris Buescher, who was never a factor in the Round of 16, on the Chase sidelines.

Jimmie Johnson (48) led 90 laps but finished seventh after a late pit road penalty

Sean Gardner/NASCAR via Getty Images

Johnson had problems on his Lap 279 pit stop, but issues with the fueling of the car weren't what cost him a chance to win. Johnson's jack man stepped over the pit wall early enough to make a phone call before Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet arrived, and the resulting penalty cost the six-time champion a lap he never recovered.

With perhaps the fastest car on the track, however, Johnson drove to seventh at the finish, the first car one lap down.

"When I was coming into my pit box, the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) and the No. 43 (Aric Almirola) were just leaving theirs, and they were directly behind my box," Johnson explained. "I had to slam on the brakes and get turned and get underneath those guys to come in, and I was pretty close to my box, so I assume that just threw the rhythm off the pit stop and somebody came off the wall early.

"Certainly a mistake, but it's not one that I've ever had happen on the No. 48 team. Thankfully, we had a strong car that we were only a lap down and still ended up seventh. I do feel like one got away, but very proud of this Lowe's race team. I'm happy to be advancing. We're certainly thrilled about that, but feel like one got away today."

MARTIN TRUEX, JR., No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing

Finishing Position: 1st

What kind of statement has the 78 team made in the first round of the Chase?

We're not messing around I guess. I don't know — what else can you say? We are here to get it done and golly I'm telling you just the best bunch of guys you could ever ask for. It's just amazing to drive their race cars and do what we were able to do. I'm just ecstatic. So many people to thank again. I mean, this is just unbelievable. Especially here I love this race track. It's been considered a home track for me for a long time. It's been since '07 since I won here. Have a lot of heartbreaks here, but all in all just a phenomenal race car again today and Furniture Row, Denver Mattress, Bass Pro Shops, Auto Owners Insurance, Oakley, everybody that makes this thing happen for us. Barney (Visser, owner) thank you. I haven't seen him yet today so he must not be here. Everybody back in Denver for Furniture Row. Golly, man, it's just -I've got to pinch myself. It's unbelievable. Thank you to Sprint, the fans, everybody. What an awesome race today. We're ready to go to Charlotte.

How much does being on the other side of this kind of having this much success make you appreciate this?

I can remember going home on days really frustrated. Here for example. Running upfront to have something happen and watch Jimmie (Johnson) win 10 of them and it's like, man, that's got to be unbelievable winning that many races in a year or that many races period. And, I mean that last month, month and a half has been ridiculous. It's been a fairytale dream and all of the credit goes to all these guys, TRD (Toyota Racing Development) ???????? the engine was incredible as always. I thought I blew it up out there. I went to do a burnout and it shut off and I couldn't get it started. The victory lap was cool. That was for Alan Kulwicki. Mark Martin is always talking about it and he's my buddy so that was kind of half for him as well. He's given me a lot of advice over the years and a lot of support so it's cool to be able to do that. All in all, this is a dream come true. I've got a lot of friends here, a lot of family here. We had a lot of people here with our foundation today that came all the way from my hometown ???????? 150 of them bussed down here. We met them before the race. They're out there with their Martin Truex Jr. Foundation towels waving the towels as I went by. Just awesome. Just an awesome day for all of us and looking forward to keeping this momentum going man. The sky is the limit with this team.

What does it say about your race team and confidence going into the next round of the Chase?

I can't even believe it man. It's just living a dream right now. It's a fairytale. I don't even know what to say. All the credit goes to these guys. Cole (Pearn, crew chief), Jazzy (Jeff Curtis, engineer), everybody at TRD (Toyota Racing Development) – the engine shop, fab shop, chassis shop, all of the guys in Denver. Barney Visser (team owner) for giving us everything to be able to do this. It's just a dream come true man. We've got it going on right now and we've got confidence we've got fast race cars and the guys are making good decisions. Heck, we only ran 10 laps of practice yesterday because we didn't want to take a chance of getting off because we thought the track wasn't right and it paid off for us today.

How do you feel about the second round of the Chase?

I feel great. I think we can go win the next two and not have to worry about Talladega because you never know. You've got to take it one week at a time. These races are difficult. You never know what's going to happen. We seen with the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) today, one speeding penalty took him out of it and he had a really strong car. I felt like we were real equal and whoever was out front was going to be the guy to beat. Fortunately, we just crossed all the T's and dotted all the I's and we had a race car and took care of it and did all the right things today.

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M's Core Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

How would you describe your day and what is your outlook as you advance to the second round of the Chase?

We're not bad. I mean, obviously our cars are really fast, we just haven't been able to find all of it that the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) had so far. Those guys are doing a phenomenal job, but can't say enough about everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, TRD (Toyota Racing Development). This M&M's Camry today was really, really good and class of my field, my zip code, my area code. But, we just kept working on it all day long. We had loose, tight, both and it was just better to be on the looser side and just try to maintain the rear tires and keep them underneath you for the long haul and see what you could get. All in all just need a little bit more speed but appreciate M&M's, Interstate Batteries, NOS Energy Drink, everybody Adam Stevens (crew chief) and all of these guys.

Where you do think you were losing time to the 78 today?

I was just waiting to make my move. I had him in my sights all day long – nah, I was just kidding. I had nobody in my sights all day long. I was in my own area code and he was off in his own zip code. All in all just a great day for our M&M's Camry. Everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), the guys have done an awesome job. We've got really fast cars just missing the boat a little bit on something the 78 team has figured out. I've just got to say thanks to Adam Stevens (crew chief) and all these guys, they did a great job. We finished second here just like we did here last year at this race. It was a good points day for us, we were able to move on to the next round and we can keep being able to do that and just get ourselves to Homestead. That's where it matters the most.

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