Truex Wins at Phoenix

In an effort to provide proper NASCAR coverage our man David Castro got off his couch in Glendale, Arizona and cruised over to Phoenix Raceway in Avondale (roughly 25-miles).  Art of Gears was concerned about his business trip but did not provide a per diem and left him to his own devices. 

Arizona doesn’t do Daylight Savings Time, I realized this again this morning because I got an email from my NASCAR media rep advising the same and how it would affect the start time of today’s Instacart 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

Phoenix Raceway, like Arizona doing its own thing about time, is unique to NASCAR. It’s a low-banked tri-oval one-mile track that has a dogleg which can lead to a bit of havoc. It’s a cool layout and unlike anything on the NASCAR Cup schedule.

Phoenix Raceway gets two NASCAR races a year and will host the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship race in November. It’s a smaller track and feels a bit more intimate with seats for 42,000, to put that in context Wrigley Field has a capacity of 41,000. You can also sit on the hills behind the track but you have to provide your own chair and it’s a bit tricky to traverse.

I’ve been going to Phoenix Raceway since it was known as Phoenix International Raceway.  My adventures here were as a NASCAR and IndyCar reporter but for the last couple of years it was as a fan. My wife and I always have a great afternoon here, despite being unable to hold a conversation because of the deafening soundtrack of 40 V8 engines.

On Friday I covered the ARCA race and today I’m here for the Cup Series. Switching gears from a fan to a reporter is easy: you can’t have cocktails and you need to pay greater attention when you’re on assignment. There shan’t be any “Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas” escapades for DPC.

Quite the contrary, I’m here to work and cover the sport I love. Covering motorsports isn’t really work, it’s awesome and fun.

On this Sunday afternoon Phoenix Raceway hosted the “Instacart 500” and Martin Truex Jr. won handily after leading the final 25-laps. It was his first career win at Phoenix Raceway.

“It’s never been our greatest track,” Truex said.

It was his first victory this season and his 28th career win. This afternoon he broke his 29-race winless streak.

“I say we were really hungry for it (to break the winless streak),” Truex said “It was always the little things biting us.”

Truex looked solid all afternoon, he led the race on three separate occasions for a total of 64-laps. With 30-laps to go Kyle Busch spun out and the caution flag dropped. Logano, who led a race high 143-laps, came out  of the pits first and Truex was second.

The race resumed under green at lap-287 and two-laps later Truex passed Logano. Truex was hardly challenged down the final run of the race and ended up winning by 1.698-seconds over Logano. Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott rounded out the top-5.

This Sunday’s “Instacart 500”  originally had Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson on the front row but Larson got booted to the back after an inspection infraction. Chase Elliott had the same issue and ended up out back.

More from Art of Gears

• 3 Reasons the 2024 Mazda CX-50 Is Among the Best Small SUVs
• The Jeep Renegade Is Discontinued: Here’s a Look at Its Legacy
• 2023 Nissan Armada: A Decent Full Size SUV With 1 Glaring Issue
• Best Minivans: 3 Options for Families With Solid Performance
• Here’s Why the 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E Is So Popular

Larson’s long afternoon also included a pair of pit road speed penalties. Despite the setback he finished seventh.

Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney dominated early. Blaney won stage one and Logano finished second. Logano took stage two and Blaney was fifth. After 190-laps, Logano led 97 and Blaney led 35. Blaney faded in the final stage and finished 10th.

With his 28th career NASCAR Cup victory Truex is tied with Carl Edwards and Rex White on the series all-time career win list. Truex didn’t seem overly excited about the career accomplishment.

“I don’t chase numbers or anything,” Truex said.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 on March 21,2021 at 3:00 p.m. (ET).