Martin Truex Jr. won the Tale of the Turtles 400 from Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday, the first race of NASCAR’s playoffs.
Truex took the lead in the final stage on Sunday, and he was able to pull away from Chase Elliott over the final run to pick up his fifth victory of the season. Truex already had the most playoff points going into Round 1, but this victory automatically puts him into the next round.
Truex said he was excited he and his team could get to victory lane to kick off the playoffs.
“This is the playoffs, this is what it’s all about,” Truex said. “I’m so excited…my team’s unbelievable. We’re just having fun…proud of this group.”
Truex did not start the day off well, with multiple pit road problems costing him spots in the first segment. Truex was able to battle back, and he finally took the lead in the final segment.
Truex said his team never gave up when they fell back early.
“We got the speeding penalty…after last year having to come from the back,” Truex said. “We just kept our heads down and kept fighting…just did what we always do.”
“It’s important to come here and not let the pressure get to you, and I think we did a good job of that. On to the next round.”
Elliott entered the playoffs without a victory, and he had a strong showing on Sunday. Elliott fell short of beating Truex, but Elliott said this was the kind of race his team needed to kick off their playoff run.
“We had a solid day all around…our car was fast and we had good pit stops on pit road,” Elliott said. “Without some luck I wasn’t going to beat the 78 [of Truex]…I didn’t have anything for Martin.”
“This is the time to go and we gave it our all today. I think it’s a testament to our team and the lack of quit that everybody has.”
Unofficial results:
1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Chase Elliott
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Kyle Larson
6. Brad Keselowski
7. Joey Logano
8. Jimmie Johnson
9. Matt Kenseth
10. Jamie McMurray
11. Ryan Blaney
12. Daniel Suarez
13. Clint Bowyer
14. Paul Menard
15. Kyle Busch
16. Austin Dillon
17. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
18. Danica Patrick
19. Kurt Busch
20. Landon Cassill
21. Kasey Kahne
22. Trevor Bayne
23. Ryan Newman
24. Aric Almirola
25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
26. AJ Allmendinger
27. Chris Buescher
28. Ty Dillon
29. David Ragan
30. Michael McDowell
31. Matt DiBenedetto
32. Reed Sorenson
33. Erik Jones
34. Jeffrey Earnhardt
35. Cole Whitt
36. Corey LaJoie
37. Brett Moffitt
38. Gray Gaulding
39. Timmy Hill
40. Ray Black Jr.
