Martinsville, Virginia. It was the usual beating and banging. Kyle Busch did not have a Kyle Busch night, but Kevin Harvick did not have a good night, either. For most of the race, it looked like Paul Wolff was going to howl at the moon, because his driver, Joey Logano, led the most laps. But, as we all know, sometimes the clock doesn’t toll for who leads the most laps. Martin Truex was the winner and his spotter asked, do you know what time it is? Truex responded with a very excited tick tock. This was no small feat, as crew chief James Small was taken to victory lane for his first time. James Small replaced the Canadian Cole Pearn as Martin Truex’s crew chief. He had been the team’s engineer when the news of Cole Pearn leaving struck the 19 team. Small is from the land down under. Small has big shoes to fill, because Pearn took Truex to the championship in 2018. The next opportunity for the Cup to be contested will be at a familiar place, where Kyle Busch was crowned King last year, Miami Homestead. We will be covering the chase for the championship all the way to the Valley of the Sun in Avondale, Arizona, the track where the championship will decided. Jimmie Johnson finally showed what a seven time champion is made of by winning stage number two, before being overtaken by Truex in his Toyota. It was a forgettable night for Toyota otherwise, as Denny “Baked” Hamlin did not do what he usually does in Martinsville. The native of Chesterfield, Virginia usually puts everybody in the oven, but on this night, Hamlin would be relegated to 24th place. Kyle Busch’s finish was not indicative of a champion, as he finished one number below his car number.
