NASCAR
DOVER, Del. – What may go down as one of the most popular wins of the year happened Saturday at Dover Motor Speedway. Part-time driver and perennial underdog Ryan Truex put on a masterclass in the A-GAME 200, leading 124 laps en route to his first career win. After scratching and clawing his way through many backmarker or part-time rides, the younger Truex brother is finally a NASCAR winner. The 31-year-old swept both Stages and would eventually lead the field by almost five seconds to the checkered flag.
Perhaps no track is more fitting for Ryan Truex to finally taste the sweetness of victory. Dover is the closest venue to Truex’s hometown of Mayetta, N.J. and older brother Martin also earned his first Cup Series win on the concrete. The proud big brother and past Cup champion was on-hand for the celebration after Ryan’s big win.
Xfinity Series start number 89 finally saw Truex capture a checkered flag. Many will remember this race 11 years ago, where Truex had the lead late only to lose it to Joey Logano. That 2012 runner-up was Truex’s best NASCAR result in any National Series until Saturday. Ironically enough, that day Truex was also driving a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Now piloting the No. 19 to match Martin, Ryan got to take the Jason Ratcliffe-led team to victory lane.
“I’m just so thankful, all these fans, my team, they really stuck behind me,” Truex said. “Most people didn’t believe in me, and I still did – my girlfriend, my family, my parents, my brother did. I’m just so thankful to be here.
“I felt like with 20 to go, I was just waiting for something to happen. Just praying, please God keep everything straight and let’s get to the end of this. What a car, what an amazing Toyota Supra. I’m speechless.
“I thought I’d be more emotional right now, but when I crossed the flag, I couldn’t even talk on the radio and I’m not an emotional guy. This is for everyone that doubted me.”
“I belong here, and I just proved that. I’ve known it for a while and people around me have known it for a while. And now everyone in this garage area knows it. My goal is to drive a racecar full-time next year and hopefully we can make it happen.”
The career timeline and trajectory of Ryan Truex is interesting to say the least. Making his NASCAR debut as a Michael Waltrip Racing development driver in 2010, Truex has bounced around various rides in Xfinity and Trucks. Truex also has 26 Cup Series starts to his name, with most coming at BK Racing in 2014. Truex had a six-race deal with Joe Gibbs racing this year to prove himself in the No. 19. In start number five, Ryan Truex finally becomes a NASCAR winner.
The second-most laps led on the day went to fellow winless-driver Sheldon Creed. Creed paced the way for 41 circuits, only falling back after a late spin and rallying to finish 11th.
Defending race winner Josh Berry finished second to Truex, further padding an already-impressive Xfinity record at Dover. Berry has been either first or second in all three of his trips to The Monster Mile. Restarting mid-pack for the final Stage, Berry could only get to 4.8 seconds back of Truex’s bumper.
The rest of the top-10 Xfinity finishers from Dover were: Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, John Hunter Nemechek, Sammy Smith, Cole Custer, Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer and Daniel Hemric.
Third for Hill is good enough to retain a four-point regular season championship lead over Nemechek.
Thanks to his sixth-place run, Cole Custer earns the fourth and final Dash4Cash $100,000 bonus. Custer also got the big payday a week ago in Talladega.
Ryan Truex currently has one more planned outing in the No. 19. That just so happens to be the very next race in two weeks. The Xfinity Series will be back in action Saturday, May 13 with the Shriner’s Children 200 at Darlington Raceway. The green flag will fly in South Carolina at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. With the monster of being winless now off his chest, can Truex perhaps find victory lane again?
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to James Gilbert/Getty Images for NASCAR
