Rolex Sports Car Series… (HD) • 2:00pm
  • Media
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Check out the latest SPEED podcasts on iTunes
  • Mobile
This could be your avatar!
Username
Password
Register
foxsports_com's avatar
Author:
FOXSports.com
Login For More
Rate this article:
  • 0/5 Stars
SPEEDtv.com Store
REVIEWED: “Rust In Peace” By Malcolm Tucker
Malcolm Tucker delves into the photographic archives of the celebrated motoring historian Mike Worthington-Williams
Our Price: $49.00
Visit Button
Buy Button
"Le Mans", Starring Steve McQueen
The greatest racing film of all time! Dramatization of a man's tentative participation in the Le Mans race
Our Price: $14.99
Visit Button
Buy Button
“Monaco Grand Prix"
A photographic portrait of the world's most prestigious motor race.
Our Price: $75.00
Visit Button
Buy Button
Signed Bobby Allison Coca-Cola 1/24
1/24-scale die-cast replica is now available and personally autographed by Bobby Allison on the windshield!
Our Price: $54.95
Visit Button
Buy Button
Man-Made Thunder
Examine how the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has transformed from a performance-based sport into a personality-driven enterprise.
Our Price: $49.00
Visit Button
Buy Button
Footer Bg
  • Zoom More Photos Button
  • Camera Icon
CUP: Martin Truex Takes First Cup Win at Dover
Written by: FOXSports.com
FoxSports.com   http://www.foxsports.com
06/03/2007 - 07:00 PM
Dover, Del.
 


Martin Truex Jr. celebrates in Victory Lane at Dover International Speedway. (Jason Smith / Getty Images for NASCAR) » More Photos

Martin Truex, Jr. made sure there would be no doubt about his first NASCAR Nextel Cup points race victory. No snide comments about a fuel mileage race , no insinuations that he got lucky or had the breaks go his way at the Dover International Speedway Monster Mile.

Instead, the Mayetta, N.J., native simply went on and put an old-fashioned trouncing on the Autism Speaks 400 field Monday afternoon, leading 216 of 400 laps in the rain-delayed race and winning by an astounding 7.355 seconds over pole-sitter Ryan Newman. It was his first victory in 58 Nextel Cup starts and the first time in six Car of Tomorrow races that someone other than a Hendrick Motorsports driver won.

In some respects it was a bittersweet victory, as it came on the day that NASCAR great Bill France, Jr. died, an eerie coincidence in that the last first team DEI winner was Michael Waltrip, who won the 2001 Daytona 500 on the day that team owner Dale Earnhardt, Sr., a man widely regarded as France's best friend, perished in a last-lap crash.

But regardless of the circumstances or cosmic coincidences, it was all good Monday at Dover for Truex, who gave his star-crossed Dale Earnhardt, Inc. team its first victory in more than a year and the first by anybody on the team not named Earnhardt since 2003. And along with Coca-Cola 600 winner Casey Mears, Truex became half of the first tandem of back-to-back, first-time NASCAR Nextel Cup winners since Jerry Nadeau and Waltrip turned the trick in 2000 and 2001.
Poleseitter Newman gave way to Truex with 54 laps to go, and settled for second. (Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR) » More Photos

"Man, I just don't know what to say. I've got to thank all these guys and everyone at DEI for all their hard work in times of change and times when people don't really know what's going on and they need some leadership and some direction," said Truex, referring to the maelstrom surrounding the team because of the impending departure of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at the end of the season. "I'm just real happy to be the one here in victory lane. It couldn't come at a better track for us. … What an unbelievable race car we had today."

Indeed it was.

Once Truex got out front on lap 125, the race essentially was over. During the final 276 laps, Truex led all but 60 circuits and most of those were because of lead changes during routine pit stops. By virtue of his pole, Newman got the final pit stall at the end of pit road, which meant that during pit stops, Truex usually came in first and Newman usually left first,
a situation that quickly was remedied once the battle re-engaged on the track.

Newman took the lead for the last time during a caution-flag pit stop on Lap 329 of 400, but Truex reassumed the point on Lap 347 and was never headed from there on in. The only challenge to Truex's obvious superiority seemed set to come from Jimmie Johnson, who struggled after an early pit-road collision but worked his way up to second place on Lap 369, when he went by Newman.

At that point, the fastest car on the track appeared to belong to Johnson, who already has four victories on the season so far in 2007. On Lap 370, Johnson was 2.037 seconds back of Truex and appeared poised to thrust to the front. But instead of closing on the DEI Chevy, Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports entry fell back, with the gap 2.668 seconds at Lap 375. The reason was that Johnson basically burned the tires off his car during his charge to the front, a condition that was evidenced when he had to pit on Lap 380 due to a worn out right-rear tire that had gone flat.
Poleseitter Newman gave way to Truex with 54 laps to go, and settled for second. (Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR) » More Photos

What precious little drama there had been in this heretofore unremarkable affair vanished completely, as Truex simply sprinted off into the ether, leaving his so-called competitors left to sniff his exhaust fumes as he headed towards victory lane.

When he got there, Newman's Penske Racing Dodge was more than a quarter-lap behind him in second place. Ford's Carl Edwards made it an egalitarian top three, one representative each from Chevy, Dodge and Ford as he took the checkers less than a second behind Newman. Rounding out the top five were sophomore wunderkind Denny Hamlin and the always-reliable 2003 series champ Matt Kenseth, who like his teammate Edwards piloted a Roush Fenway Ford Fusion.

For the 26-year-old Truex, though, the stop at victory lane was just the start of what unquestionably will be a long, long night of partying. And the first guy to meet him there and kick it off was his friend and mentor, Earnhardt. "He said, 'I told you, you could do it, man,'" Truex recalled when asked what Earnhardt said to him. "It means a lot. He's been a great friend. He said, 'I'll see you at the house tonight.' So we're going to have some fun." No doubt.

And fun is something his competitors found in precious short supply at the Monster Mile on Monday.

AUTISM SPEAKS 400 RESULTS