Truex rebounds after bump, wins at Richmond
RICHMOND, Va. — Martin Truex Jr. seemed to have a “pinch me” moment as he climbed from his car in victory lane Saturday night.
Nudged off the lead with 87 laps to go, Truex rallied, ultimately passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch with 25 laps to go and winning his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race. That it came in the series’ playoffs made it all the more surreal.
“To spin and win is pretty incredible. I’ve never done anything like that in my life,” Truex said. “When things are rolling, they just are.”
The victory completed a redemptive finish for Truex, the championship leader coming into the race. The bump from Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who was running on fresher tires, appeared inadvertent and came in Turn 4, but Truex was still running third when the caution flew.
He gradually reeled in his teammate, got a nudge from Busch as he passed and pulled away.
“I think any time you’re winning at this level, there’s a little bit of a pinch-me feeling,” Truex said. “Look, this is really, really difficult. These races are hard to win. … You’ve got to have some things go your ways sometimes and we’ve certainly had that the last two weeks.”
The victory was his series-high sixth of the season and the 15th in 28 races for the Gibbs cars. The team initially finished in the top four spots, a first for JGR, with Busch hanging on for second, followed by teammates Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones. Jones, however, was later disqualified when his Toyota failed post-race inspection for a rear wheel alignment issue, dropping him to 38th place and severely damaging his chances of advancing to the second playoff stage.
Pole-sitter Brad Keselowski moved up to fourth with Jones’ disqualification, and every driver that finished behind him moved up one spot on the final grid and in the two in-race stages, where Jones had been ninth in the first stage and fourth in the second.
Kevin Harvick and Busch assured themselves of spots in the second stage of the playoffs, which begins after next week.
Newgarden plays it safe for IndyCar title
Josef Newgarden won his second championship in three years with a smooth drive in the IndyCar season finale, where he played it safe and watched rookie Colton Herta dominate the road course at Laguna Seca.
Newgarden needed only to finish fourth or better to give Roger Penske his 16th IndyCar title, and his drive clearly indicated he would not get aggressive and risk throwing it away. The American from Tennessee finished eighth Sunday — good enough to beat teammate Simon Pagenaud by 25 points in the championship race.
He jumped into the arms of his waiting crew and broke down in tears in a rare display of emotion.
“I am so happy, I was crying that entire last lap,” Newgarden said. “This has been my dream since I was a kid.”
Newgarden then needed a moment to compose himself.
The championship gave Team Penske a season sweep of the crown jewels of IndyCar; Pagenaud won the Indianapolis 500 in May for Penske’s record 18th victory.
Pagenaud was frantically chasing Scott Dixon and Penske teammate Will Power in the closing laps to get a shot at Herta — Pagenaud’s only real chance at winning the title — but settled for fourth in what still will go down as a career-defining season. His sweep of all the events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May earned him a contract extension that Penske confirmed before the race has been completed.
Newgarden went into the race, which was worth double points, trying to hold off Alexander Rossi, Pagenaud and Dixon for the title. But he controlled his own destiny and knew he would need an awful race and one of his challengers likely would need to win to prevent him from wrapping up the title.
None could get close enough to Herta, who led 83 of 90 laps, to make an attempt.
Dixon finished third to complete the podium.
Vettel ends drought with win at Singapore
Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel took advantage of an early pit stop to win the Singapore Grand Prix and end a 13-month winless streak in Formula One.
Vettel, who started third on the grid, crossed the finish line 2.641 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari 1-2.
It was four-time F1 champion Vettel’s first victory since the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third, while championship leader Lewis Hamilton was fourth.
With six races remaining, Hamilton holds a 65-point lead over Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, who finished fifth.