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Truex’s Darlington Dominance Went South in the Closing Laps

What might’ve been for Martin Truex, Jr. at Darlington. (Photo: Kevin Ritchie | The Podium Finish)

Martin Truex, Jr. and domination really go hand-in-hand at Darlington Raceway and it appeared nothing changed throughout Sunday’s Goodyear 400.

However, such a combination went awry from the final lap of Stage 2 onward, cultivating a gut-punching crash on Lap 281 that ruined Truex’s bid at a third win at “The Lady in Black.”

Out of the gate, Truex led the 36-car field to green and his No. 19 Auto-Owners Toyota owned the competition, similar to how he did in 2021 when he led a whopping 248 of 292 laps.

Stage 1 was such a strong showing that crew chief James Small radioed to his driver to give the field “an old school f——.” That’s exactly what it was as the Dover winner went on to score his 57th career stage win and his first of 2023.

Truex, Jr. was in a league of his own in Stage 1. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)

It was no question that in order to conquer Darlington, one must get past the No. 19 machine. Ross Chastain stepped up to the plate in Stage 2 as he hunted down and passed Truex under green.

Both fought hard coming to the end of the stage, a battle that was hard fought until Truex wrecked. Contact in Turn 3 sent him around as Chastain went on to collect 10 stage points and the ever-so-valuable Playoff point. A frustrated Truex got his car back rolling to finish 10th, earning a measly stage point but salvaging track position.

Coming down to the wire, Truex slowly recovered but was no longer the dominant threat as the winning battle shifted to Chastain and the Hendrick Motorsports duo of William Byron and Kyle Larson.

On Lap 277, Ryan Newman lost control in Turn 4 and brought out the sixth caution. Chastain jumped ahead of Larson for the lead on the Lap 281 restart and they dueled it out into Turn 1.

Battling for third, Truex ran on the bottom trying to deny Joey Logano the spot. Suddenly, Truex went up the track and squeezed Logano into the wall and triggered a big crash. Truex hit the wall as the rest of the field scurried down the apron, hoping not to be collected in the mayhem.

Several missed it, but Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick, Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola and Ryan Blaney all suffered damage. As most of those soldiered on, it ended the day for Truex, who led a race-high 145 laps.

Truex explained that since the battle with Chastain to end Stage 2, his Camry wasn’t the same as early on.

Chastain and Truex played a huge role in the race. For better or worse. (Photo: Kevin Ritchie | The Podium Finish)

“When we got into Chastain there at the end of the second stage going for the win in that, it knocked the tow out so we were tight from there on out. Just an unfortunate deal,” said Truex. “There was plenty of room there, but he just came off the wall and hit me. Like I said, knocked the tow out in the right front. Pretty crappy from there.

As for the restart that led to an undesirable 31st-place result, a tight car led to the crash. Truex took responsibility for the incident.

“I guess I just got real tight and I don’t even know who I squeezed into the wall, but I apologize to them,” said Truex. “Probably my fault, just got real tight and couldn’t stay down the track.”

Rather than entering the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro with a strong case of being a regular-season front-runner, he dropped from third to sixth in the standings. A day that could’ve been a one-man show turned disappointing in more ways than one.

Throughout my young motorsports media career, my number-one goal is to be a personnel that can be flexible with my writing and photography in the world of NASCAR and INDYCAR. Content delivery is vital because this is my main passion and what keeps me going. On the side, I also do sports production ranging from Seattle Kraken hockey to the 2023 NCAA Women's March Madness. All for the love of the game. With four National Motorsports Press Association photography awards, I'm not slowing down anytime soon. Outside of media, I'm super vocal about my musical tastes that goes from Metallica to HAIM. At times, there might be some Paul Thomas Anderson and Southern California references in my social media.

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