Column By: JESSY MILLER / RPW – MARTINSVILLE, VA – After wrecking on the last lap in the 2018 Martinsville race, Martin Truex Jr. dominated the 2019 First Data 500.
Now with it being the round of 8, things will only continue to heat up from here. Truex lead four hundred and sixty-four laps of the five hundred lap race Sunday afternoon. The No. 19 driver started in 3rd place and won both stages of the 2019 First Data 500.
Truex is the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion and looking to win once again this season. The morning after the race Truex went to Twitter and said, “Yesterday was awesome! Still work to do, but we’re looking forward to these next 2 races and then going to Homestead with a shot at the championship!” He even complimented William Byron’s restart skills by asking if they put Jeff Gordon back in the 24 for the race.
Matt Tifft, driver of the No. 36 for Front Row Motorsports, missed Sunday’s race and spent the day in a local hospital trying to determine what happened. It was also announced that Tifft will miss the remainder for the 2019 season due to health reasons and John Hunter Nemecheck will be taking over for the final three Cup races.
Tifft posted this video a few days later:
Wanted to share an update with you all. Thank you for the support. pic.twitter.com/kOyQXTTwQn
— Matt Tifft (@matt_tifft) October 29, 2019
The Texas race will be John Hunter Nemecheck’s debut in the MENCS Series.
One of four spots is filled… what’s going to happen this weekend in the Lone Star State? Will it be even crazier than Martinsville? Tune in to NBCSN at 3pm EST to find out!
Playoff Standings after Martinsville (Via NASCAR.com):
- Martin Truex Jr. (7 wins)
- Denny Hamlin (5 wins)
- Kyle Busch (4 wins
- Joey Logano (2 wins)
- Kevin Harvick (3 wins)
- Ryan Blaney (1 win)
- Kyle Larson (1 win)
- Chase Elliott (3 wins)
