Truex Out-Duels Logano in Phoenix

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Instacart 500 from Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first victory of the season.

Truex passed Joey Logano on a late restart to take the lead, and he was able to hold off the field to pick up the win.

Following early contact with the wall, Truex’s team was able to get his car dialed-in.  After his team was able to get him track position up front, Truex had one of the fastest cars on the track.

After winning only once in 2020, Truex said he was excited to get back to victory lane early in the season.

“We had a tough year last year; we were a little bit rocky,” Truex said.  “That was a hell of an effort by everybody.  Just so thankful for everyone at JGR and everybody that makes this possible.”

Phoenix will host the season finale in November, and Truex said he hopes he will be fighting for a championship the next time the Cup Series takes to the track.

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“Phoenix has been a tough one for us,” Truex said.  “I wish it was November, but hopefully we can come back here in November and have a shot at being in the final four.”

Logano led a race-high 143 laps, but he had to settle for second after Truex took the lead on the final restart.  Logano took the inside lane coming back to green, but Truex was able to hang on the outside to take control.

Logano said he thought the bottom was going to allow him to pull ahead of Truex on the final restart.

“I was surprised [Truex] was able to hang with me on that start,” Logano said.  “When you’re in the corner door-to-door, the outside car has control of you.”

“Overall a solid day.  It’s not a win; second hurts, but we’ll move on and go to Atlanta.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Joey Logano

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Chase Elliott

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Kyle Larson

8. William Byron

9. Christopher Bell

10. Ryan Blaney

11. Aric Almirola

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Alex Bowman

14. Matt DiBenedetto

15. Kurt Busch

16. Bubba Wallace

17. Austin Dillon

18. Chris Buescher

19. Ross Chastain

20. Erik Jones

21. Daniel Suarez

22. Chase Briscoe

23. Michael McDowell

24. Justin Haley

25. Kyle Busch

26. Ryan Preece

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Ryan Newman

29. Tyler Reddick

30. BJ McLeod

31. Cole Custer

32. Quin Houff

33. James Davison

34. Garrett Smithley

35. Josh Bilicki

36. Cody Ware

37. Anthony Alfredo

38. Timmy Hill

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