Event: Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 (Round 11 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (.526-mile oval)
Format: 500 laps, broken into three stages (130 laps/130 laps/240 laps)
Start/Finish: 10th/15th (Running, completed 499 of 500 laps)
Point Standing: 1st (452 points, 28 ahead of Joey Logano)
Race Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorpsorts (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-130):
● Kevin Harvick started 10th and finished eighth, earning three bonus points.
● Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang was up to sixth by lap 40.
● On lap 63, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure and a track bar adjustment. Says car is loose off and the front tires stopped working.
● Harvick said he had a battery dead at the 100 lap mark. Team decided to race the stage and took four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment on lap 114.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 131-260):
● Kevin Harvick started eighth and finished fifth and earned six bonus points.
● Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang pitted on lap 135 for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 261-500):
● Kevin Harvick started fifth and finished 15th.
● Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang pitted on lap 265 for four tires, fuel and tire pressure adjustment.
● On lap 304, Harvick said his car was too loose through the corners.
● Harvick pitted on lap 328 for four tires and fuel.
● On lap 399, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment. Said car was a bit tight.
● Unfortunately for Harvick, his car faded down in the last 100 laps and he ended up 15th, one lap down.
Notes:
● Martin Truex Jr. won the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 to score his 27th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his second at Martinsville. His margin of victory over second-place Ryan Blaney was 4.705 seconds.
● There were seven caution periods for a total of 52 laps.
● Only 14 of the 39 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Harvick remains the championship leader after Martinsville with a 28-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Homestead 400 on Sunday, June 14 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
