Darlington NASCAR: Truex takes dominant third win over Larson
Martin Truex Jr took his third NASCAR Cup victory of the season in round 12 at Darlington, leading 248 of the 293 laps to head Kyle Larson by 2.571s.
The Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver, the only driver so far this year to win more than once, was only briefly challenged following the final round of green-flag pit stops in the final 20 laps, but when Larson's tyres started to wear out he gradually slipped back.
The win is the 30th of Truex’s career and his second at Darlington, having last won at the 1.366 mile oval in 2016.
“We’ve won a bunch of stages here in the past couple of years, lady luck just had us here,” Truex said.
“We just had good balance, the car would do what I wanted it to do. It was really loose that last run and I was nervous with (Larson) catching us and we got mired in traffic. That’s always tough.”
Truex had won both stages before the all-important final segment, taking the lead for the first time on lap 22 from team-mate Kyle Busch - who was struggling with his tyres and suffered a puncture moments later to bring out the second caution of the race after Aric Almirola's early crash.
Busch made light contact with the wall, but managed to recover to second by the end of the second stage, albeit almost 15s behind Truex, followed by William Byron (Hendrick) and stage one runner-up Denny Hamlin (JGR).
Larson was penalised for speeding on pit road and was forced to start the second stage from the rear of the field, but the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver fought his way back to fifth by the end of the stage.
Larson then took second from Busch on lap 241 and in the final sprint to the flag showed full commitment in his attempts to stay with Truex by going three-wide and splitting the cars of Ryan Newman and Tyler Reddick – a move that could have easily ended in disaster.
But the Las Vegas winner didn't have enough to challenge Truex and had to settle for second, with Busch completing the top three ahead of Byron and Hamlin.
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro HendrickCars.com Throwback
Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images
Kevin Harvick hit the front early on after passing polesitter Brad Keselowski on lap five, but was never able to challenge the leaders thereafter and finished a quiet sixth on a difficult day for Stewart-Haas Racing - having losing Almirola early, his team-mate Cole Custer also crashed out following a tangle with Anthony Alfredo.
Chase Elliott started from the back of the grid after unapproved adjustments before the start, but came through the field to seventh ahead of Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Newman as only nine cars finished on the lead lap.
Results
| Cla | Driver | Manufacturer | Gap | Laps Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 248 | |
| 2 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 2.571 | |
| 3 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 6.209 | 9 |
| 4 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 17.067 | |
| 5 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 21.939 | 5 |
| 6 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 23.951 | 10 |
| 7 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 24.739 | |
| 8 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 26.667 | |
| 9 | Chris Buescher | Ford | 27.077 | 1 |
| 10 | Ryan Newman | Ford | 1 Lap | |
| 11 | Chase Briscoe | Ford | 1 Lap | |
| 12 | Tyler Reddick | Chevrolet | 1 Lap | 2 |
| 13 | Joey Logano | Ford | 1 Lap | |
| 14 | Christopher Bell | Toyota | 1 Lap | 3 |
| 15 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 2 Laps | 10 |
| 16 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 2 Laps | |
| 17 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 2 Laps | |
| 18 | Erik Jones | Chevrolet | 2 Laps | |
| 19 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 3 Laps | |
| 20 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Chevrolet | 3 Laps | |
| 21 | Bubba Wallace | Toyota | 3 Laps | |
| 22 | Corey Lajoie | Chevrolet | 3 Laps | |
| 23 |  Daniel Suarez | Chevrolet | 3 Laps | |
| 24 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 3 Laps | 4 |
| 25 | Ryan Preece | Chevrolet | 3 Laps | |
| 26 | Anthony Alfredo | Ford | 4 Laps | |
| 27 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 5 Laps | |
| 28 | Justin Haley | Chevrolet | 5 Laps | |
| 29 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | 7 Laps | |
| 30 | Quin Houff | Chevrolet | 7 Laps | |
| 31 |  James Davison | Chevrolet | 7 Laps | |
| 32 | B.J. McLeod | Ford | 8 Laps | |
| 33 | Josh Bilicki | Ford | 48 Laps | |
| 34 | Cody Ware | Chevrolet | 105 Laps | 1 |
| 35 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 187 Laps | |
| 36 | Cole Custer | Ford | 196 Laps | |
| 37 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 288 Laps | |
| View full results | ||||
Related video
NASCAR’s Next Gen Cup car: What is it and why is it needed?
Daytona 24 Hours LMP2 winner Kyle Tilley to make NASCAR debut at COTA
The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team
Saddled with uncompetitive Minardi machinery, Tarso Marques didn't manage to score points in his three partial seasons of Formula 1. But now the Brazilian has the chance to show what he can do in NASCAR, and explains the story of his comeback with new Cup Series entrant Team Stange
The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car
NASCAR’s new stock car generation is encouraging an influx of fresh blood into its top tier. But there are concerns that parts are in short supply as the entire paddock tries to build up stocks at the same time
How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style
After holding his nerve and hip-checking his team-mate on the run to the line, Austin Cindric made a perfect start to life as a full-timer in the NASCAR Cup Series by winning the Daytona 500. Here's how the Penske Ford man emerged first across the line in the first points-scoring race for the much-anticipated Next Generation cars
Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season
There are plenty of uncertainties ahead of the 2022 NASCAR Cup season as an all-new fleet of cars take to the track for the first time. Ahead of this weekend's Daytona 500, our experts explain what you need to know
How NASCAR had to learn a harsh lesson ahead of its Next Gen arrival
The NASCAR Cup kicks off with the Daytona 500 this weekend, but a major overhaul and a subsequent mountain of work has been required to be ready for the arrival of the Next Gen cars
How Larson took the long way round to NASCAR Cup glory
From villain to hero, Kyle Larson’s journey to the 2021 NASCAR Cup title comes straight from the Hollywood blockbuster scripts. While Larson had to reach his lifelong goal the hard way and go through a very public shaming after a ban for using a racial slur, his talents shone long before his name grabbed the headlines for both the right and the wrong reasons
How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022
It’s not just Formula 1 that’s set for upheaval in 2022, as the NASCAR Cup Series adopts its Next Gen cars that will cast any in-built advantages aside and require teams to adopt a totally new way of operating. Far more than just a change of machinery, the new cars amount to a shift in NASCAR's core philosophy
Why Bubba Wallace’s Talladega win is such a big moment for NASCAR
Bubba Wallace claimed his maiden NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega on Monday to become the first Black victor in the category since Wendell Scott in 1963. Both Wallace and Scott had faced obstacles and racism in their paths to their breakthrough wins, and NASCAR is trying to put it right with its range of diversity programmes