Truex Jr. outduels Hamlin for victory

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Martin Truex Jr. won a stirring, lapslong duel for the lead with teammate Denny Hamlin, then prevailed in the delayed NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday.

Truex, who nudged Hamlin repeatedly in the turns and tried to get to his inside on the straightaways without success, finally made the pass with 15 laps to go, ducking underneath Hamlin coming out of the second turn. He sailed to victory without another challenge as Hamlin and Chase Elliott battled the rest of the way for second.

Truex won for the third time in the past four races on the 0.526mile oval to become NASCAR’s first repeat winner this season.

The race was rained out after 42 laps Saturday night, and was completed as the second part of a doubleheader that started with the completion of the raindelayed Xfinity Series race from Friday night.

Elliott, victorious at Martinsville last fall on his way to winning the series championship, held off Hamlin for second. Hamlin was followed by William Byron and Kyle Larson.

Xfinity Series: Josh Berry passed rookie driver Ty Gibbs with 28 laps to go and earned his first career Xfinity victory.

Berry, 30, in just his 13th career start spread over five seasons and eight years, became the second driver to gain his first Xfinity Series win at Martinsville, joining Brett Bodine (1985).

Berry’s best Xfinity Series finish before Sunday was a seventhplace effort this year at Las Vegas.