Logano breaks through at Dover
DOVER, Del. – Joey Logano had wasted enough shots at winning Dover to feel like he was on the brink of doing it again.
Out in front for most of the race, Logano fell back after a four-tire pit stop, paving the way for Ryan Truex to take the lead.
Back in the pack, Logano wondered if he’d blown another win at Dover.
“I was thinking the same thing was happening today,” Logano said. “It figures.”
Logano instead powered his way to the lead with six laps left when Truex got mired in lapped traffic on Saturday to win the Nationwide Series race at Dover International Speedway.
“When you lead it and you think you gave it away, and then you get it back there at the end,” Logano said, “that’s exciting.”
Truex started from the pole and raced for the first time since he needed an appendectomy nearly two weeks ago. He had the top car toward the end of the race until he got loose with less than 10 laps left. Logano capitalized and made the late charge outside through a pair lapped drivers to zip past Truex for his fourth Nationwide win of the season.
“I’m not happy,” Truex said. “It’s second and I should be happy with it, but we had a winning car.”
Truex questioned where the spotters were for the cars that got in his way on the final laps and helped cost him the victory on the Monster Mile. Truex finished second and Brian Scott third for a 1-2-3 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Truex felt sharp pain in his stomach the afternoon of May 21 and was rushed to the hospital. His appendix hadn’t burst, but needed it to be removed.
He would have surrendered his ride to his older brother, Cup driver Martin Truex Jr., had he not been cleared to compete.
Martin earns pole at Dover Speedway
Mark Martin turned a lap of 158.297 mph to win the pole at Dover International Speedway.
The 53-year-old Martin has 54 career Sprint Cup poles.
He has three poles this season in 10 races while racing a limited schedule for Michael Waltrip Racing. He’s looking for his first Cup win today since 2009.
Martin took the last qualifying lap of the day in the No. 55 Toyota and knocked off Jimmie Johnson from the top spot. Johnson went 158.263 mph and starts second.
Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth round out the top five.
Dixon puts end to Penske streak
Scott Dixon won his first pole of the year, snapping Penske Racing’s streak of having the fastest car in IndyCar qualifying this season.
Dixon hopes the favorable position – thanks to clocking a track record of 1 minute, 10.3162 seconds – will help him snap a five-race winless skid this year.
It certainly should help the two-time series champion’s chances to win the 28th race of his career at the Detroit Grand Prix, where a slick and tight 2.07-mile course isn’t known for much maneuvering.
Capps leads way at SuperNationals
Ron Capps grabbed center stage at the NHRA SuperNationals, posting the quickest Funny Car run in association history to claim his first No. 1 qualifying position of the season.
Capps posted a time of 3.964 seconds at 320.89 mph during the qualifying session at Englishtown, N.J., good enough for his 12th career top qualifying spot. He has made four consecutive finals and claimed one victory since Rahn Tobler took over as crew chief in early April.