DOVER, DA. – Martin Truex Jr., the Joe Gibbs Racing star and former Cup Series champion who came into Monday with a 54-points-race winless streak, notched his first win of the 2023 season at Dover Motor Speedway. The Mayetta, New Jersey, native did so at his home racetrack.
With about 65 laps to go, on a crucial green-flag pit stop, Truex overtook leader Ross Chastain extending his lead on the 1 car by nearly two seconds at one point.
Joey Logano spin-out-turned-caution forced Truex to come up big on one last restart with 10 laps to go.
Truex’s 19 team elected to take two right-side tires on the caution pit stop to maintain P1 track position. He then got a great start, held off Ryan Blaney, and then outdueled Ross Chastain in the end. Chastain finished second. His margin over second-place Ross Chastain was .505 of a second.
Blaney finished third. William Byron placed fourth and Denny Hamlin, fifth.
There were seven caution periods for a total of 46 laps. Only 12 of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
Chastain leaves Dover as the new championship leader with a three-point advantage over second-place Christopher Bell.
Stage 1 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)
SHR Race Finish:
- Ryan Preece (Started 30th, Finished 17th / Running, completed 399 of 400 laps)
- Kevin Harvick (Started 12th, Finished 19th / Running, completed 399 of 400 laps)
- Aric Almirola (Started 19th, Finished 24th / Running, completed 397 of 400 laps)
- Chase Briscoe (Started 6th, Finished 30th / Running, completed 378 of 400 laps)
SHR Points:
- Kevin Harvick (3rd with 332 points, 38 out of first)
- Chase Briscoe (16th with 250 points, 120 out of first)
- Aric Almirola (25th with 181 points, 189 out of first)
- Ryan Preece (28th with 169 points, 201 out of first)
Preece’s 17th-place finish bettered his previous best result at Dover – 18th, earned in 2021.
This was Harvick’s 43rd career NASCAR Cup Series start at Dover, the most among active drivers. The all-time leader in Cup Series starts at Dover is Ricky Rudd with 56. Rudd made his Cup debut at Dover on May 16, 1976, and his last start at the track came on June 4, 2007, a span of 31 years.
Harvick finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points.
This was the first time Harvick has finished outside of the top 10 at Dover since a 17th-place result in October 2017.
Briscoe’s 30th-place result ended a three-race streak of top-fives. He finished fifth on April 9 on the dirt at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, fifth April 16 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and fourth last Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
