Main a race-high 228 laps, Truex appeared on his method to his first win of the 2024 season in March when a late warning despatched the race into time beyond regulation and the sector down pit highway for brand spanking new tires.
Denny Hamlin beat Truex off pit highway for the lead after which shortly bought round Truex on the restart and held off Joey Logano for the victory. Truex questioned whether or not Hamlin jumped the beginning, however NASCAR dominated it good.
Truex, in his ultimate full-time NASCAR season, stays with out a win this yr however nonetheless nicely positioned to make the playoffs on factors with 4 races remaining within the common season.
“It’s been an amazing monitor and it’s a ton of enjoyable,” Truex stated of Richmond. “We had an amazing run going there within the spring and thought we had a shot at successful, then we had been down a set of tires, and the cautions didn’t go our manner.
“I feel we’ve improved our program a ton and have been placing on a present at among the brief tracks and locations like Richmond. I hope for myself and my group we will get again in Victory Lane there like we’ve achieved earlier than.
“We had such a dominant run there within the spring and the warning got here out and our race went haywire from there. Wish to get again out entrance and keep there on Sunday.”
Martin Truex Jr, Joe Gibbs Racing, Auto-House owners Insurance coverage Toyota Camry
Photograph by: David Rosenblum / NKP / Motorsport Photographs
Truex has three profession wins, 10 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes on the Virginia brief monitor. His 1,587 laps led at Richmond is essentially the most he’s led at any energetic monitor on the Cup schedule.
All three of his wins have are available in his final 11 races, whereas competing in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 Toyota.
“From the primary time I raced there in 2003, I’ve all the time loved the monitor,” he stated. “There was a protracted interval the place I didn’t have nice numbers there, however I felt like I liked the monitor and all the time ran nicely there and had loads of loopy issues occur there all through my profession.
“As soon as I bought to Furnishings Row (Racing), we began main a ton of laps there. We additionally had a few heartbreaking finishes the place we must always have gained the race however didn’t, and I puzzled if it was ever going to occur.”
There might be a brand new change that Truex and all Cup groups must take care of in Sunday night time’s race.
To assist enhance the standard of racing, NASCAR is permitting Goodyear to offer groups use of a softer, “choice” tire within the 400-lap race.
Like they had been capable of do on this yr’s NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, groups could have three units of the “choice” tire at their disposal, with one set for apply and two for the race.
Managing tire put on has been a key ingredient to success at Richmond of late and use of the choice tire – or moist climate tires if situations warrant – might vastly alter methods.
Managing the tire put on … and tire choices
“Richmond is a really distinctive monitor, very old fashioned monitor,” Truex stated. “Tire put on, it’s important to handle your stuff and that actually performs into my strengths.
“It’s going to be completely different this time round with the tire mixture from what we had within the spring. Going to have to determine the right way to recapture it and hopefully provide you with one thing that labored prefer it has prior to now.”
“You’re going to must see a really particular set of circumstances to resolve to place the smooth tire on. There’s nonetheless the potential that it might make some fascinating issues occur, it simply is dependent upon how the race performs out.”
