TRUEX’S WIN EMOTIONAL
Crew member dies of heart attack on Saturday night
Martin Truex Jr. secures a victory at Kansas Speedway despite a heavy heart.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Martin Truex Jr. overcame two early mistakes to win a wild playoff elimination race at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, an emotional victory for his Furniture Row Racing team following the death of a crew member the previous night.
Truex was already assured of advancing to the round of eight after winning a couple weeks ago at Charlotte. But after starting on the pole, the season’s most dominant driver calmly overcame a restart violation and a loose tire early on to win for the seventh time this season.
Hours before the race, the Furniture Row team learned that fabricator Jim Watson had died Saturday night of a heart attack while in town for the playoff race. He was 55.
“We were racing for Jim today,” Truex said. “He was a heck of a guy.”
Kurt Busch finished second before a wave of playoff contenders headed by Ryan Blaney, whose car failed post-qualifying inspection. He quickly worked his way through the field from the 40th starting spot to finish third, easily making it within the playoff cutoff line.
Chase Elliott was fourth and Denny Hamlin finished fifth to punch their tickets to the next round. Kevin Harvick finished eighth to stay alive heading to Martinsville, while Kyle Busch finished 10th and Jimmie Johnson 11th — both of them making the cutoff line.
Brad Keselowski finished 13th after his win last week at Talladega sent him to the next round.
Kyle Larson blew his engine to spoil his chances of advancing, while a penalty on Matt Kenseth for having too many crew members of the pit wall following a wreck ended his championship hopes.
Jamie McMurray and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also were eliminated from the playoffs.
Truex had dominated the 1½-mile track at Kansas for years before finally breaking through with a victory in the spring. And while he had nothing to lose on Sunday, there was still a feeling that Truex wanted to win one for his late crew chief and the rest of their team.
“I can’t say enough about all these guys,” Truex said. “Just really proud of them, and definitely racing with a heavy heart. Jim was a great worker and put a lot of speed in these Toyotas.”
Larson began the race 33 points on the good side of the cut line, but he was forced to watch things play out after dropping a cylinder early in the race, then hearing his engine let go entirely.
His hopes improved when Erik Jones triggered a multi-car wreck on a restart with 70 laps to go, which collected McMurray and caused damage to Kenseth’s car. The former champion thought he would be able to continue when he reached pit road, but seven crew members hopped over the wall for repairs.
NASCAR’s damaged vehicle policy limits teams to six. The penalty is an immediate parking.
“I don’t know what the rules are. It seems like we have a lot of stuff that is changed so often I can’t keep up with it,” Kenseth said. “You’re not able to race anymore? I just don’t get it.”
F1: In Austin, Texas, Lewis Hamilton further tightened his control on the Formula One season championship, winning the U.S. Grand Prix ahead of title rival Sebastian Vettel, who finished second in a race he said he had to win.
The Mercedes driver continued his absolute dominance of the Circuit of the Americas, winning at the track for the fifth time since 2012 and fourth year in a row.
The victory extended Hamilton’s championship lead over Vettel to 66 points with three races left. While mathematically still possible, Vettel’s title hopes are nearly wiped out.
Vettel had pushed hard for the win and grabbed the lead out of a fast start, but Hamilton reeled in the Ferrari just a few laps later and Vettel’s hopes faded over the second half of the race.