Truex Jr returned
to the top stepMcLaughlin managed to
earn Game of Thrones
seat in race oneMOTORSPORTIMAGES/N
KP18 APRIL 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 45WORLD OF SPORT RACE CENTRETruex opens Joe Gibbs account
IMSA SPORTSCAR
LONG BEACH (USA)
Joao Barbosa/Filipe Albuquerque
Action Express Racing (Cadillac DPi-V.R)AUSTRALIAN SUPERCARS
PHILLIP ISLAND (AUS)
Race 1 Scott McLaughlin
DJR Team Penske (Ford Mustang)
Race 2 Fabian Coulthard
DJR Team Penske (Ford Mustang)NASCAR CUP
RICHMOND (USA)
Martin Truex Jr
Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota Camry)NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
RICHMOND (USA)
Cole Custer
Stewart-Haas Racing
(Ford Mustang)WEEKEND WINNERSqualifying and went one better in the race
with an unlikely podium.
McLaughlin took an eighth-straight pole
on Sunday and dominated the short first
stint of the race in a way that made
back-to-back wins seem inevitable.
But a curious first round of pitstops put
him on the back foot. Despite taking on less
fuel than Coulthard, and having gone into
the stops with a couple of seconds up his
sleeve, he ended up behind his team-mate.
He never got the lead back. Coulthard
took his first win since last May from
McLaughlin, both drivers baffled post-race
that McLaughlin’s supposedly superiorstrategy didn’t work. The team was initially
confused as well, later suggesting that a
pitlane limiter problem made McLaughlin’s
stop longer than required.
Anton De Pasquale took his first Supercars
podium with a fine third place – despite a
shift-cut sensor issue and fuel concerns –
making him the best-placed Holden.
The factory Commodores, meanwhile,
had a horrible weekend. Jamie Whincup
scored a DNF on Saturday after losing a
wheel, before finishing just 12th on Sunday.
Shane van Gisbergen earned a sixth and
a seventh, but never troubled the leaders.
ANDREW VAN LEEUWENAUSTRALIAN SUPERCARS
PHILLIP ISLAND (AUS)
13-14 APRIL
ROUND 4/15It might have ended with a pair of 1-2s
for the dominant DJR Team Penske squad,
but the Phillip Island Supercars round
still managed to throw up a few surprises.
Scott McLaughlin winning Saturday’s first
race certainly wasn’t one of them.
Equipped with the new Ford Mustang –
perfectly suited to the fast and flowing
circuit – the expectation was two wins
for the runaway points leader.
Saturday followed the script perfectly.
McLaughlin made it seven Island poles in a
row in qualifying, before he and team-mate
Fabian Coulthard cruised to a Penske 1-2
in the race.
Behind the Penske Mustangs, things got
a little bit interesting. Rather than a queue
of Fords, there were flashes of speed from
the unfancied Nissan package. Andre
Heimgartner was fourth quickest inPenske duo
clean up at
Phillip Island
NASCAR CUP
RICHMOND (USA)
13 APRIL
ROUND 9/36Martin Truex Jr scored his first
victory for Joe Gibbs Racing after
holding off Joey Logano and Clint
Bowyer at Richmond.
It was the 2017 NASCAR Cup
champion’s first top-level race win
on a short track in 81 attempts.
Truex was challenged by Bowyer
for the final 70 laps. Although thePOWERED BYFor full results visit motorsportstats.comStewart-Haas Ford driver had a much
stronger car in traffic, he faded late on.
That allowed Stage 2 winner Joey Logano
to close and pass for second with just
three laps to go.
Polesitter Kevin Harvick dropped back
fairly early on and finished fourth ahead
of Denny Hamlin, who was one of eight
drivers sent to the rear of the field at
the start for failing pre-race inspection.
Austin Dillon claimed his best Cup
finish since NASCAR’s last visit to
Richmond in September, matching
his efforts for sixth.
Brad Keselowski led 31 of the race’s
400 laps but could only finish seventh.
He was able to beat Kyle Busch, who won
the first stage and led 101 laps but was hit
with a pitlane speeding penalty during a
caution period in the second stage. He
returned to the top 10 after just 80 tours,
but wasn’t able to make his way through
traffic to regain the lead.
Ryan Newman and Paul Menard
rounded out the top 10, ahead of Kurt
Busch and Jimmie Johnson – who ran
the Boston Marathon on Monday,
two days after the race.
DOMINIK WILDEKLYNSMITH