Martin Truex Jr. couldn’t let his little brother have all the fun at home. Could he?
The NASCAR Cup Series driver captured the rain-delayed Würth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway on Monday, ending his 54-race winless streak.
Two days earlier, Ryan Truex earned his first Xfinity Series checkered flag in 89 attempts.
Talk about sibling rivalry.
𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘𝗫 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗪𝗢!
A good weekend to be the Truex family!!#TeamToyota pic.twitter.com/jRpYja5n9C
— Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) May 1, 2023
Ryan: ‘It’s Just Special, You Know’
The brothers are 11 years apart, but with family on hand at Dover, the older brother received the attention he craved.
“It feels incredible,” Truex told Fox Sports moments after climbing out of his No. 19 Toyota and clinching his 32nd career Cup triumph. “I feel like we’ve been close a bunch of times, that’s for sure.”
Monday’s winning move came on the final restart with six laps remaining. Choosing the outside lane of the front row, Truex drag-raced Ryan Blaney, who was on the inside, for about three-quarters of a mile, before finally gaining traction and pulling ahead.
Blaney, who ended up third, effectively held off the controversial Ross Chastain, who had four fresh tires, just enough for Truex to win by just over a half second. Truex’s crew chief, elected to go with a two-tire change during the final pit stop. It proved to be the difference.
“Good call by (crew chief) James (Small) to take two (tires) and then I was able to get a pretty good restart.”
Good enough to get the best of Blaney, Chastain – and his little brother, although he was supportive of Ryan’s milestone moment.
“It’s just special, you know,” Truex said. “Good day for my family and to see Ryan win Saturday; he’s worked so hard for so long to get good opportunities and it’s awesome.”
.@KyleLarsonRacin had a point to make with @RossChastain. pic.twitter.com/IqIuf3XIMY
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 1, 2023
Truex Makes First Victory Lane Appearance Since 2021
Starting 17th after rain wiped out Saturday’s qualifying sessions, Truex, a New Jersey native and 2017 Cup Series champion, earned his fourth career win at Dover, which he and his brother call their “home track.”
The win was his first since Sept. 11, 2021, at Richmond Raceway. He shared Victory Lane with Ryan.
“Just thanks to everybody that stuck with me,” Truex said. “We knew we could do this. We’ve shown we can lead laps and have dominated races and it just never all came together (the past two seasons). I’ve said we just had to keep doing what we were doing and not overthink it.”
Chastain, who placed second, took out part-time driver Brennan Poole and subsequently Kyle Larson, with a careless bump along Turn 1 on Lap 81. He publicly apologized during a post-race interview. Chastain, who led 98 laps Monday, earned his fourth top-5 finish this season.
“Gosh, so close again,” he said.
While Truex’s winless streak ended, Blaney’s own skid reached 57 Cup events.
William Byron, who dominated early and collected his sixth stage win of the season, was credited with race-best 193 laps, eventually placing P4. Truex’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell, finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
“This is a special place,” Truex said of “The Monster Mile.” “We’ve given away a few here over the years so it’s nice to see it come around our way.”
For the family.
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