It was the Mother’s day gift NASCAR moms were asking for. It was race day at Darlington. This was also throwback weekend where NASCAR went old school for one weekend. It was an exciting and chaotic weekend but an amazing race weekend in South Carolina.
Martin Truex Jr Wins Stage 1
Early trouble struck for Aric Almirola. On lap seven, he spun in turn two and slammed into the backstretch pit road wall. This would end his day as Almirola finished 37th as his rough season continues. On lap 25, trouble struck for last weekend’s winner Kyle Busch. He got sideways in turn two and hit the wall. He spun out and brought out the caution. This lap was a costly one as he was one lap away from leading 18,000 laps. That made this spinout hurt even more. Once it was all said and done Martin Truex Jr won Stage 1.
Truex Jr Wins Stage 2
Big trouble struct early in Stage Two. Just like his teammate Aric Almirola, Cole Custer had the same wreck. He spun out of turn two and slammed the backstretch pit road wall. This ended his day as he finished 36th just ahead of his teammate Aric Almirola. Later on in the stage, Kurt Busch wrecked. Coming out of turn four he spun out and hit the front stretch pit road wall. This ended his day as he finished in 35th. At the end of Stage Two, Martin Truex Jr won the stage. He will now be looking for the sweep.
Truex Jr Completes The Sweep
Once it was all said and done, the drivers battled it out, but Martin Truex Jr won the Goodyear 400. He also completed the sweep which hasn’t been done yet in 2021. Kyle Larson would finish in the second spot. Kyle Busch rebounded nicely and earned a third-place finish. William Byron finished behind him in the fourth position. Rounding out the top five was the 11 of Denny Hamlin.
Outlook
It was a race that Martin Truex Jr dominated the day at Darlington. He also led the most laps on the day leading 248 of the 293 laps at Darlington. This race also had a big storyline. What is going on with Stewart-Hass racing? Once again they had a really bad day as Aric Almirola and Cole Custer crashed. Kevin Harvick had the best finish of that team as he finished in 6th. Needless to say, Tony Stewart has a lot of issues that need to be resolved.
It is not only Stewart-Hass racing that has struggles this year. Big names like Denny Hamlin and the defending champion Chase Elliott have not won yet in 2021. Both drivers should be concerned and need to step it up if they want to compete for a title.
What’s next?
Following this past weekend at Darlington, the NASCAR Cup Series will head to the Monster Mile in Dover Delaware. It is the one and only race at Dover due to the schedule shakeup. It is a race that is circled on the schedule of many NASCAR fans at it is all coming up next weekend.
