Despite a hard-fought battle at The Tricky Triangle, the all-American manufacturer, Ford, yet again lost to the Toyotas as they claimed the top three spots to reign victorious. While Team Penske’s Joey Logano gave the Ford camp a sigh of relief by winning Stage 1, the Penske Fords steadily lost steam later in the stage, and the scene wasn’t much different for Logano’s teammate, Ryan Blaney, as he finished 30th despite a strong rally in Stage 3. The Coca-Cola 600 winner, who put on a valiant effort, lost the lead to Joe Gibbs Racing‘s veteran, Martin Truex Jr, giving the 42-year-old another top-5 finish.
While the fellow Fords watched the action in desperation, only the veteran, Kevin Harvick, made it into the top 5. Furious over losing the lead, the calm and cool #12 driver lost his cool as he got livid over the radio, explicitly mentioning the team’s sub-par equipment and struggling to hold ground with the superior Toyotas in the chase.
Ryan Blaney loses his cool after Martin Truex Jr steamrolls him.
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Once again, the tea has gone for Ford. Except for Stewart-Haas Racing‘s Kevin Harvick, none could claim a berth in the top 5 despite having a great start. Even though the 22-year-old Xfinity sensation, Harrison Burton, picked up a respectable 8th position at the end of the race, the race result itself indicated Toyota’s dominance over the 2.5-mile Superspeedway, with all four JGR cars in the top 10.
And to make matters more interesting, the road racing phenom, Tyler Reddick, too finished 2nd, keeping his playoff hopes alive. While it was an outright domination by the Toyotas, the rest of the pack could only be content with what they could manage as the speedway unveiled its trickery, claiming four cars, including the Stage 1 winner, Joey Logano.
While the #22 car was out of contention following a multi-car wreck early in Stage 2, Blaney put on a clinic, leading the pack for a brief interval until Truex Jr took the lead from the #12 driver in lap 102. Opting not to pit, Blaney stayed out, taking the lead with the No. 19 Toyota Camry driver tailing him. However, the reign was short-lived—in fact, too short—as Martin Truex Jr mustered on chasing the #12 Ford.
2 laps later in lap 102, Blaney’s car lost its momentum and succumbed to the veteran’s pressure dropping down to 7th. While the Team Penske Ford was falling behind, struggling to gather speed, Blaney blasted his team’s sub-par equipment on the radio, saying, “Fu**ing blowing up or something if you’ll let me fu**ing talk for a second, down on power. This fu**ing thing’s not running.”
Soon after, the #12 car spiraled its way to the bottom, losing position in quick succession to finish the race 30th. While the race was an entertainer for fans, they denounced the anti-climatic ending with Denny Hamlin donning the antagonistic role proudly.
Though the #11 driver racked up his second win of the season, even his teammate and fellow veteran, Martin Truex Jr isn’t a fan of Hamlin’s “dirty” move.
Denny Hamlin’s JGR teammate, opens up, deeming Hamlin’s move “dirty”
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Well, from a fan’s perspective, the Highpoint 400 was every bit an exciting race, except maybe for the finish. The field looked as aggressive as ever, and the 160-lap race turned out just as exhilarating as any speedway race. However, as mentioned above, the race earned an infamous reputation for the controversial finish by Hamlin.
Eyeing his 7th win on the track, the most by any Cup Series driver, Hamlin pulled off the exact move he orchestrated last year against the ever-polarizing Ross Chastain, but this time instead of Chastain, Kyle Larson was the victim. Running wide into turn 1, the #11 car got inside onto the left of the then-race leader, Larson leading the #5 Chevy into the wall and essentially squashing his dreams.
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This, however, got Hamlin a lot of heat, even from his own teammates. Reacting to the incident, Truex Jr. said, “I’m not exactly sure what that was all about but I feel like I picked the right lanes and I did exactly what Denny did besides running through – pushing the 5 car too deep in the corner and run him in the fence off of [Turn] 2.”
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While the veteran puts things nicely, deeming Hamlin’s move a necessary evil, he also voiced the #11 driver’s move was a little bit dirty, saying, “You know he kinda took it that extra little bit I guess to make it a little bit dirty and you know I didn’t so maybe that’s the difference why he won and I didn’t.”