Truex steadies himself, picks up third win of year
Martin Truex Jr. got nervous in a hurry near the end of his dominant drive at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Sunday.
Barely pushed much of the race, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver suddenly saw Kyle Larson catching up in the closing laps.
Truex, though, called on his steady demeanor and track focus to pull away for his third NASCAR Cup Series victory this season. Not that it was easy. When Truex noticed Larson right behind him inside of 30 laps left, he thought, “Oh, man, he’s right behind me.”
He continued: “Your heart rate goes up. Your anxiety goes up.”
Very quickly, Truex was back to his steady, powerhouse driving at the track “Too Tough To Tame.”
“Hopefully we can keep this rolling,” Truex said.
Truex’s owner, Joe Gibbs, told him afterward that Larson gave the three-time Super Bowl-winning coach a scare. “Yeah, he scared me too,” Truex told him.
The victory gave Truex some payback at Darlington from his last time at the track in September, when he led 196 laps yet finished 22nd after tangling for the lead late with Chase Elliott.
This time, Truex made sure he had no issues by running out front — often holding a 10-second lead on the field — to win for the second time at Darlington.
Truex led 248 of the 293 laps for his 30th career victory in NASCAR’s top series. He’s the only driver with multiple wins over the year’s first 12 races.
Larson finished second,
with Truex’s teammate Kyle Busch placing third. William Byron was fourth and Denny Hamlin fifth.
Formula One
Lewis Hamilton beat Max Verstappen in a thrilling duel to win the Spanish Grand Prix in Montmelo, Spain, and increase his championship lead over his top rival.
Verstappen’s Red Bull edged the pole-sitting Hamilton to the first curve to snatch the early lead, but Mercedes’ use of two pit stops to give Hamilton fresher tires down the final stretch paid off and allowed him to overtake the Dutchman with six laps left.
Hamilton followed his 100th career pole Saturday by taking his 98th career win. He also tied Michael Schumacher’s mark of six victories at the Spanish Grand Prix, including the last five in a row.
Hamilton increased his lead to 14 points over Verstappen, who grabbed a bonus point for the fastest lap.
Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas steered his Mercedes to a third-place finish.