Last night (6/10) was a couple of firsts for NASCAR at Martinsville Speedway. It was a second consecutive win for Martin Truex Jr. at the track.
There had never been a NASCAR Cup Series race on a Wednesday night or under the lights in the 71 year history of NASCAR at Martinsville Speedway. That is no longer true since last night, Wednesday, June 10th the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 took place at the track.
There was a lot of side-by-side racing, which is the norm when NASCAR races on a short track. However, the drivers managed to keep things under control for the most part. There were only seven caution periods including the competition caution and two caution periods at the end of the first two stages of the race.
Early on it looked as though Joey Logano was going to be the car that would likely find Victory Lane. Joey led a race high 234 laps in the 500 lap race. His domination was early in the race as he won stage one.
Jimmie Johnson looked as though he might be able to end a 105 race streak without a win. Jimmie has the most Martinsville Cup Series wins among active drivers. He is tied with Jeff Gordon at number three on the all-time wins list for the track at nine each. Jimmie raced his way to the front to win stage two.
Late in the race Martin Truex Jr. began showing he was going to be a contender to win the race. He kept moving toward the lead until he was able to take it on lap 370. Martin was able to hold that lead even through a restart after the final caution period of the race. He kept control of the race for the final 131 laps of the race to capture the checkered flag. Martin was the dominant winner the last time the NASCAR Cup Series raced at Martinsville in October of 2019. That gives him back-to-back Martinsville wins and his first win of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Ryan Blaney raced his way to a runner-up finish. Brad Keselowski claimed third place. Joey Logano earned a fourth place finish after dominating early in the race. Chase Elliott rounded out the top five. See the complete race results for the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 night race at Martinsville Speedway here.
The top three spots in the point standings remain the same with Kevin Harvick in the lead, Joey Logano in second and Chase Elliott in third place. Martin True Jr.’s win moved him up to fourth place pushing Brad Keselowski back to fifth place in the standings. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.
The drivers and teams will only have days to relax and recover once again. This Sunday they will be back in action at Homestead-Miami Speedway. There will be some fans at this race. Homestead will invite up to 1,000 South Florida service members to attend the race. There will be strict safety precautions for those guest as you can see here.
Sunday, June 14th we will watch the Dixie Vodka 400 take place starting at 2:30 PM central time (3:30 PM eastern time) from Homestead-Miami Speedway.
By: Buck Stevens
