Truex Cruises To New Hampshire Victory
Joins Father, Brother As K&N Pro Series East Victors At NHMS
Loudon, NH — Ryan Truex became the third member of his family to reach Victory Lane at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Friday as he dominated the New England 125 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race.
Truex took the lead on Lap 60 and never looked back as the Mayetta, N.J., driver joined his brother NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr., and his father, Martin Sr., on the K&N Pro Series East winners list at New Hampshire.
“My brother and my dad won here, and I finally got a win here,” Truex said. “I’m really happy about it.”
The younger Truex needed 60 laps to work his way from a sixth starting position to the lead, and once he got there, he was able to check out on the rest of the field. It wasn’t all easy for Truex, however, as the 18-year-old development driver for Michael Waltrip racing had to survive four restarts in the last half of the race to earn his fourth career K&N Pro Series East victory.
“I’m just happy to get a win here, this feels like the Daytona 500 for me,” Truex said. “I think this is the biggest race of the year. You’re in front of the [NASCAR Sprint ] Cup Series guys, and you can show off your talents and abilities to them.”
Truex was followed across the line Friday by Kevin Swindell, Darrell Wallace Jr., Ryan Gifford and Brett Moffitt in the top five.
It marked the best finish in 10 career starts for Swindell in the series, who just didn’t quite have enough to reel in Truex at the end.
“It was just a matter of trying to race with that [No.] 00, and I was just too tight behind cars to really make a run on him,” Swindell said. “I kind of stayed with him on the last restart, and got to his corner down in Turn 3, but couldn’t hold it down there. He was able to get back up there and get enough of a gap that I just couldn’t quite make it up.”
Ty Dillon, Alan Tardiff, Corey LaJoie, Andrew Ranger and Eddie MacDonald rounded out the top 10.
With the New Hampshire win, Truex earned a secured starting position in the postseason NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown in Toyota Speedway at Irwindale (Calif.). The defending NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion, he extended his points lead to 33 over Wallace and 89 over Gifford. Moffitt and Kobyluck are fourth and fifth, respectively.
The New England 125 will be broadcast on SPEED on Thursday, July 1 at 6 p.m.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will return to the track at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., on Saturday, July 3.
RESULTS | LAP-BY-LAP RECAP | POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO OF SECOND AND THIRD-PLACE
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR NASCAR K&N Pro Series East PR