Martin Truex Jr wins the playoff race at Richmond Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 on Saturday evening.

Martin Truex Jr. received a penalty on the opening lap of the race for crossing the start/finish line in front of polesitter Denny Hamlin at the green flag. But 400 laps later Truex led the field across the line again – this time as the race winner of Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.

Martin Truex Jr Wins the Playoff Race at Richmond

The convincing 1.317-second margin of victory over his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Hamlin and Christopher Bell marked Truex’s third win in the last five races at Richmond, his fourth win of the 2021 season, and most importantly, gave him that coveted automatic bid into the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Truex joins Hamlin, who won last week’s Playoff opener at Darlington, S.C., and Regular-Season Champion Kyle Larson, who finished sixth on Saturday, as the only three drivers to have officially secured positions in the Playoffs’ Round of 12 that begins in two weeks at Las Vegas.

The first thing Truex did after climbing out of his winning No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was to acknowledge the importance of the September 11 date to our country and thank the fans for showing their support on the solemn anniversary and for their patriotic support of the sport of NASCAR.

As for his early setback, “That was frustrating, I’m not going to lie,” Truex said of the race start. “But I knew we had a good enough car to overcome it. Just one of those things you have to put out of your mind and go race. A lot on the line tonight.

“But going to Bristol (Tenn.) next week without any worries is always fun,” he added with a smile.

JGR Teammates

Truex, who led a total of 80 laps, took the lead for good – pacing the field for the final 51 laps – following a series of green-flag pit stops in the final portion of the race. Just prior to the pit sequence, another JGR teammate, Kyle Busch, had positioned himself to be a factor at the checkered flag. Instead, Busch received his second pit road penalty of the night – a speeding violation during his green-flag stop with 55 laps remaining. At the time, it dropped him to tenth place, the last car on the lead lap after he had been out front for 39 laps just prior to the green flag stops. He ultimately finished ninth.

Last week’s winner Hamlin had been the strong car early, leading 100 of the opening 152 laps and a race-best 197 on the night, winning both Stages. But the pit road sequence, lapped traffic, and an awakened Truex forced Hamlin to play catch-up in the end.

“The whole JGR team had fast cars for all of us today. I really wish we had gotten two in a row, but regardless still a great day for the team,” Hamlin said.

The Best of the Rest

Unlike last week’s Playoff opener at Darlington, when several of the 16 Playoff cars suffered setbacks and disappointing finishes, Saturday night those cars reminded everyone why they are up to challenge for a championship. Thirteen of the top-15 cars were driven by Playoff drivers.

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott finished fourth in a Hendrick Chevrolet and Team Penske’s Joey Logano was fifth in a Ford. Larson finished sixth, followed by the only non-Playoff driver among the top-ten, Ross Chastain.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s driver Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney rounded out the top ten.

Playoff drivers Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola, and Tyler Reddick finished 12th-15th. William Byron (19th), Michael McDowell (28th), and Kurt Busch (37th) rounded out the Playoff finishers.

Trouble for Kurt Busch

Busch, who led laps early, suffered a tire problem that sent his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet hard into the first turn wall only 40 laps into the race.

“Something happened with that left rear, it let go,” said Busch, who was running in the top-five at the time of his accident. “It let go of our points and it let go of our whole season right now. I don’t know what we’re going to have to do at Bristol other than win.”

Despite the tough luck, Busch heads into Saturday night’s Playoff finale for the Round of 16 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in a mathematical tie with Bowman for the 12th Playoff position – and last transfer position.

The NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings

Reddick (-5), Byron (-18), Daytona 500 winner McDowell (-38) are currently outside the top-12, with four of the 16 cars eliminated from the Playoffs following Bristol’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Harvick is the defending winner of the Bristol Playoff race. Joey Logano won the 2021 race at the Bristol track’s inaugural dirt race in March. Kurt Busch has six previous wins at Bristol and his younger brother Kyle is the winningest active driver with eight victories.

               1. (3)  Martin Truex Jr. (P), Toyota, 400.

               2. (2)  Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 400.

               3. (10)  Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 400.

               4. (13)  Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 400.

               5. (6)  Joey Logano (P), Ford, 400.

               6. (1)  Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 400.

              7. (17)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 400.

               8. (5)  Kevin Harvick (P), Ford, 400.

               9. (15)  Kyle Busch (P), Toyota, 400.

               10. (8)  Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 399.

               11. (19)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 399.

               12. (12)  Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 399.

               13. (7)  Brad Keselowski (P), Ford, 399.

               14. (9)  Aric Almirola (P), Ford, 399.

               15. (11)  Tyler Reddick (P), Chevrolet, 398.

               16. (26)  Chase Briscoe #, Ford, 398.

               17. (22)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 398.

               18. (28)  Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 398.

               19. (14)  William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 398.

               20. (24)  Ryan Newman, Ford, 398.

               21. (31)  Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 398.

               22. (21)  Cole Custer, Ford, 397.

               23. (23)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 397.

               24. (18)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 396.

               25. (20)  Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 396.

               26. (30)  Anthony Alfredo #, Ford, 396.

               27. (29)  Justin Haley(i), Chevrolet, 396.

               28. (16)  Michael McDowell (P), Ford, 395.

               29. (25)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 395.

               30. (32)  BJ McLeod(i), Ford, 393.

               31. (36)  Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, 389.

               32. (27)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 388.

               33. (34)  Joey Gase(i), Chevrolet, 387.

               34. (37)  JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 386.

               35. (35)  Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 386.

               36. (33)  Josh Bilicki, Ford, 385.

               37. (4)  Kurt Busch (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 40.

The Federated Auto Parts 400 Stats

Average Speed of Race Winner:  98.307 mph.

Time of Race:  Three Hrs, Three Mins, Six Secs. The Margin of Victory:  1.417 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  Five for 30 laps.

Lead Changes:  21 among eight drivers.

Lap Leaders:   K. Larson (P) 0;D. Hamlin (P) 1-32;K. Busch (P) 33-36;D. Hamlin (P) 37-90;C. Elliott (P) 91-131;M. Truex Jr. (P) 132;K. Larson (P) 133-134;C. Bell (P) 135-137;D. Hamlin (P) 138-161;C. Elliott (P) 162-177;D. Hamlin (P) 178-179;C. Elliott (P) 180;K. Larson (P) 181-184;C. Bell (P) 185-186;D. Hamlin (P) 187-268;M. Truex Jr. (P) 269-296;C. Bell (P) 297-301;R. Chastain 302-305;K. Busch (P) 306-344;D. Hamlin (P) 345-347;K. Larson (P) 348-349;M. Truex Jr. (P) 350-400.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Denny Hamlin (P) six times for 197 laps; Martin Truex Jr. (P) three times for 80 laps; Chase Elliott (P) three times for 58 laps; Kyle Busch (P) one time for 39 laps; Christopher Bell (P) three times for ten laps; Kyle Larson (P) three times for eight laps; Kurt Busch (P) one time for four laps; Ross Chastain one time for four laps.

Stage 1 Top-Ten: 11,9,22,5,12,42,2,19,4,10

Stage 2 Top-Ten: 11,18,19,5,22,20,42,10,48,4