April 14, 2019 | By Lee Spencer

Column: Truex, Toyota, stave off Ford Armada for now

RICHMOND, Va.—Martin Truex Jr., a Joe Gibbs Racing driver, won the aptly named Toyota Owners 400.

The driver of the No. 19 Auto Owners Insurance Camry led 186 laps en route to his first career short-track win.

But the Ford Performance Mustangs were a force under the lights at Richmond Raceway on Saturday. Six of the top-10 finishers in the 300-mile race carried the Blue Oval on their hoods. 

Certainly, if Brad Keselowski hadn’t blocked teammate Joey Logano after the No. 2 Team Penske Ford faded from the lead on Lap 294, the headlines might have been different on Sunday. 

Logano, who finished second, regretted the missed opportunities. He led 52 circuits before pitting on Lap 246 during the fifth and final caution. Logano warned the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil team, “Clean air is so freaking big, we’ve got to keep (the lead).” 

But he exited pit road second behind Truex. Keselowski was third and vaulted to second on the Lap 253 restart. 

“We had a car that was capable of winning for the third week straight and we didn’t win,” Logano said. “That part is frustrating. We need to clean up some mistakes on our end. We lost the lead there on a pit stop. We’ve got to get faster there. That is when we lost control of the race at that point and fell back to third.”

Patience was key particularly with the new aero package at Richmond. Logano took solace in knowing that he was able to reel in Truex and Clint Bowyer in the closing laps. He came within car lengths of catching Truex but fell .178-seconds short of the win.

“They were a little faster than me, but I knew they were going to kill their stuff and they did,” Logano added. “I got there, I was just a couple laps late getting there. I was able to get to the 19, but it just wasn’t enough.”

No doubt Truex had a remarkable drive. He secured the lead twice in the pits—once by default when JGR teammate Kyle Busch was busted for speeding and straight up with the No. 19 pit crew when he beat Logano off of pit. Truex raced for the point and regained the lead from Keselowski on Lap 294.

Truex had to contend with Bowyer, who, had he qualified just a tad better than 14th, would not have spent the first 40 laps working his way up into the top 10.

“We struggle on Fridays,” Bowyer said of his qualifying effort. “We don't unload good. We are definitely getting beat speed-wise. Long-run wise we slowly but surely run them down. It is frustrating.”

During the first stage, Bowyer established himself as a contender. By Lap 70, he was running fifth behind Kevin Harvick. Clearly, Bowyer had speed, but as for every other driver behind the leader, aero push was a bear. He never got the lead and settled for third.

“You get out there and I ran him down,” Bowyer said of Truex. “I was faster on a long run than him but by the time you get to him your stuff is pretty wore out and with this aero package you are so aero dependent behind those cars that you get terrible tight. 

“When I got behind him I knew that wasn’t the place to be so I changed that. I lost. It sucks.” 

Polesitter Kevin Harvick finished fourth, followed by Denny Hamlin, one of eight drivers who started from the rear for failing post-qualifying inspection. Hamlin needed over 300 laps to race his way into the top five. Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Paul Menard completed the top 10. 

Kyle Busch was an early factor at Richmond. He took the lead from Harvick after 30 laps. Busch led 101 circuits before the speeding penalty then dropped to 26th. He raced his way into the top five by Lap 260 but could never gain ground in the pack. Busch left Richmond with the points lead and his top-10 streak intact.

Not to discount Truex’s achievement, but if Hamlin and Busch are not penalized positions from mistakes both drivers would have easily been in the mix. 

Still, the Fords of Logano, Bowyer, Harvick, Keselowski and Menard were all in the top 10 halfway through the race and maintained their positions until the finish. Newman climbed from 24th up into the top 10 after his final pit stop on Lap 317. Over the next 10 laps, he had worked his way up to sixth. Newman finished ninth for the second consecutive week. 

“We needed some track position to start and I think we could have done something with it,” Newman said. “We had good lap times at points but just battled track position. We got blocked in on the first pit stop and set us back even farther than when we started. I am proud of the guys. They did a good job in the pits and we had a good car.”

Menard also posted his second-top 10 finish in as many weeks. Menard was not as optimistic entering Richmond as he was at Bristol Motor Speedway but after qualifying ninth on Friday, the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford stayed the course in the top 10 throughout the entire race.  With an average finish of 16th, Menard has recovered from 25th in the standings following a wreck in the season-opening Daytona 500 to 16th. 

“It was kind of an uneventful night really, for Richmond,” Menard said. “We started ninth and just kind of stayed in the back half of the top-10 all night long. The guys really stepped up their game on pit road and we gained some spots or we maintained and that is what you need when you start running up front. It was a really solid day for us.”

In Team Penske equipment, it’s not surprising that Menard is competitive. Penske has won one-third of the nine Cup races this season. The Gibbs’ Toyotas have earned the other six wins. 

Once Stewart-Haas Racing figures out its aero challenges, their drivers will be right there in the mix. Like Busch and Hamlin, penalties dashed the chances of Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez. Almirola (23rd) never recovered after starting 31st after failing post-qualifying inspection. Suarez was bitten in the pits with a top-10 car. He finished 18th.

Toyota has assembled a robust lineup of drivers at JGR, but there’s power in numbers. Ford has to like its chances.