The Truex brothers dominated the Xfinity Series race at Dover over the weekend, with Ryan Truex earning his first career win and older brother Martin Truex Jr. snapping a 54-race winless streak. Martin Truex Jr. was first off pit road during a late-race caution and quickly cleared Ryan Blaney for the lead on the restart with seven laps to go. He edged out Ross Chastain by 0.505 seconds at the checkered flag to earn his first win of the 2023 season. The win is Martin Truex Jr.’s 32nd career win and the fourth win at Dover.
Ryan Truex was thrilled to earn his first career win in the Xfinity Series. He and his older brother hail from nearby Mayetta, New Jersey, and Dover is considered their home track. The younger Truex earned the win after a late caution, and a great call by James Small, the crew chief, to take two tyres. “We knew we could do this. We led laps, we dominated races, it just would never all come together,” Ryan Truex said.
William Byron won Stage 1, his sixth stage victory of the 2023 season, and Ross Chastain won Stage 2. Kyle Busch started on pole based on NASCAR’s performance metric, but he was penalised for speeding during the pit stops on Lap 23, and he had to restart from the rear of the field. Daniel Suarez was one of three drivers collected in a wreck on Lap 35, which did extensive damage to his No. 99 Chevrolet and knocked him out of the race. Brennan Poole and Kyle Larson both received extensive damage when Poole got turned by Chastain in Turn 1 on Lap 81 and then shot up the track.
During pit stops on Lap 123, Brad Keselowski was penalised for an uncontrolled tyre and had to restart at the rear of the field. Joey Logano continued to struggle with his No. 22 Ford and fell three laps down with 10 laps remaining in the stage. Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, the lead-lap cars all pit with Byron first off pit road. On the restart on Lap 259, Byron was followed by Chastain, Blaney and Truex.
Keselowski was among the first to hit pit road on Lap 326 for a final round of green flag stops to take on new tyres and fuel to make it to the finish. Once the cycle of stops was completed six laps later, Truex moved into the lead followed by Chastain and Blaney. With 25 laps to go, Truex was working hard to hold Chastain at bay as Blaney ran third and Denny Hamlin fourth.
Joey Logano wrecked on Lap 387 to bring out the seventh caution of the race. The lead-lap cars all pit with Truex first off pit road thanks to a two-tyre pit stop. Chastain, who came off fourth, was the first driver to take four. The race returned to green with seven laps to go in the race.
Leave a Reply