Toyota Owners 400, Richmond, Va. 3 p.m. TV: Fox
A driver finally won for the second time this season when New Jersey native Martin Truex Jr. took home the grandfather clock last week in Martinsville.
Truex will now look for a double repeat Sunday in Richmond. The 4-1 favorite this week, MTJ is looking for both his second consecutive win in 2021 and his second consecutive win in Richmond. That last win came in 2019 since last year’s race was canceled and moved to Darlington because of COVID 19.
“Feeling good about it,” Truex told NASCAR.com “Got a great team. Pit crew really stepped up today. Got a great stop on the last one that got us the lead. We got all the tools necessary. Great sponsors, Bass Pro, Auto-Owners, Reser’s, TRD and Toyota, all they did for us. We have a great opportunity to win a lot of races. Hopefully, we can take advantage of it this year more than we did last year.”
Truex, the 2017 Cup Champion, won just once last season. So he’s already doubled that total through eight races this season. And he’s far from finished.
Here is how The Eckel 4, which as always includes Scott “Tobacco Road’’ Baker, Mike “Left Turn’’ Sweeney and Barry “Dr. NASCAR’’ Davis see the race.
Just to mention we’ve had the winner in two of the last three races, including a 1-2-3 finish last week.
Joey Logano (8-1): The odds are pretty good for Logano, who already has one win this season and has been in the top 10 in 11 of his last 13 races in Richmond. He won here in 2017, finished fourth in 2018 and second in 2019. If “Tobacco Road’’ is on Logano, you should be as well.
Martin Truex Jr. (4-1): You can’t ignore the favorite here and three of “The Four’’ did not. Truex has five wins in his last 11 races on short tracks, including last week. This just might be his year.
Denny Hamlin (6-1): He’s kind of due for a win right? You know he’ll be in the mix. And his last three times in this race he’s finished fifth, third and third.
Kyle Busch (8-1): Speaking of due, Busch has now gone 44 races without a trip to Victory Lane. His last win came when he won the 2019 Cup Championship. He does have five wins in this race and needs one more to tie Richard Petty.
Longshot Play: Christopher Bell (30-1)