Series champion in 2017 facing uphill playoff route
Martin Truex Jr. started from the back of the field for the NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Kansas Speedway after his car failed inspection twice, leaving him with an even longer way to go to advance to the final round at Phoenix.
Truex was supposed to start on the inside of Row 3 alongside playoff contender Alex Bowman.
The 2017 series champion already was facing a slightly uphill battle to reach the finale. Truex hasn’t won since
Martinsville in June and is in seventh place, 31 points below the cut line, after the Hollywood Casino 400, the first of the three- race round of eight.
Clint Bowyer, who is retiring at the end of the season, finished 26th in his final race at his home track.
Family feud
Steve Torrence powered past his father, Billy Torrence, in the Top Final final on their home track in Ennis, Texas, in the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals.
Points leader Steve
Torrence won for the second time in three years at Texas Motorplex, finishing at 3.716 seconds at 328.78 mph in the final. The two- time defending series champion has four victories this year and 40 overall.
“Going into the final, you’re racing your dad and that car is bad to the bone,” he said. “He’s done a great job driving and I didn’t know what was going to happen. You’re worried about getting there first and it was just an unbelievable weekend for our team. To represent Texas and put both cars in the final round, you can’t have a better weekend than that.”
Jack Beckman won in Funny Car, Matt Hartford in Pro Stock and Jerry Savoie in Pro Stock Motorcycle in the ninth of 11 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.
Beckman extended Don Schumacher Racing’s class winning streak to 12, racing to third victory of the year and 33rd overall.
He beat Matt Hagan in the final with a 3.908 at 328.46 in a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat.