Martin Truex Jr. has back to back playoff wins in Richmond: Notes & Quotes from NBC Sports Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series coverage

NBC Sports presented the second race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs this evening on NBCSN at Richmond Raceway in, Richmond, Va., Martin Truex Jr. took the checkered at the Federated Auto Parts 400 for his sixthwin of the 2019 season and back to back playoff wins. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Erik Jones followed Truex Jr. to give Joe Gibbs Racing a 1-2-3-4- finish in Richmond..

NBC Sports’ Rick Allen called the action alongside 21-time Cup Series race winner Jeff Burton, two-time Dayton 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Daytona 500-winning crew chief Steve Letarte. Kelli Stavast, Dave Burns, Dillon Welch, Parker Kligerman and Rutledge Wood reported from pit road and the grandstands.

Coverage on NBCSN began at 6 p.m. ET with NACAR America, hosted by Krista Voda from NBC Sports’ “Peacock Pit Box” alongside analysts Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett. Pre-race coverage on NBCSN included:

• Interviews with Clint Bowyer, Erik Jones, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, and Denny Hamlin.  
• Behind the Driver with Aric Almirola talked about his father and grandfather’s influence on his racing career.
• #MyTrackMyRoots Grassroots Racing feature voiced by Virginia-native, Denny Hamlin.
• Featurette with NASCAR drivers about what it’s like to race for a living and how they get to live out their dreams.
• The Toyota Joyride with Jeff Burton with WWE star Mickie James. 

RACE RESULTS

Position	Driver	Car#
1	Martin Truex Jr.	19
2	Kyle Busch	18
3	Denny Hamlin	11
4	Erik Jones	20
5	Brad Keselowski	2

The following are highlights from this afternoon’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race coverage on NBCSN:

                                                        POST-RACE COVERAGE

Jeff Burton on moving on to the Roval in Charlotte: “With so much on the line you, we’ve seen how close the points are, you better be a good road racer with that Roval being inside of the playoffs.”

Steve Letarte on Kyle Busch finish: “I think this week was important for Kyle Busch. You know a lot of conversation leaving Las Vegas, the race did not go how he wanted. There was disappointment from the media, on social media. To come here and get beat by a teammate, to congratulate him on the track and give that interview right there, I think he righted the ship.”

Rick Allen on final standings: “A 1,2,3,4 finishing for Joe Gibbs racing here at Richmond.”

RACE COVERAGE

Rick Allen on final lap: “He has a championship, he’s got a short track win. Did he bring his broom? Because he’s about to sweep at Richmond.”

Steve Letarte on Truex Jr./Busch battle: “This is going to be a painful race because not only did you get beat by a teammate, you got passed on the racetrack under green.”

Jeff Burton on Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch: “For the last three years we’ve been talking about how Kyle Busch…ifMartin Truex Jr. wins tonight, he will have more wins than Kyle Busch.”

Steve Letarte on drivers to pit crews with 20 laps left: “I’m giving my pit crew a little pep talk. If a caution comes out you’re pitting, tires are so important. I’m not letting them become fans of a race and just watch the race. I’m making sure they stay in the game, they know that this race could still come down to a pit stop.”

Rick Allen on stage winners: “Two stage winners in Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. That could be something that changes here at Richmond because a stage winner has never gone on to win this race.”

Steve Letarte on the Roval: “I’m excited for the Roval but I’m not sure everybody’s going to be. It’s going to be pressure packed with decisions on and off pit road. So many opportunities around that very difficult circuit to make a mistake.”

Steve Letarte with 75 laps to go: “Fuel is not an issue, tires will be though. They got 80 laps on a set of tires you’re going to have to take care of them. If another yellow comes out I’d assume everyone will pit again.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on restart with80 to go: “The final stages of these races are intense. These restarts get crazier and crazier as we go.”

Rick Allen on lap 316: “The leader spins out. Martin Truex spins at turn 4 smoke all around, people trying to get through! He has to be fuming hot.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on lapped traffic: “All night long we’ve seen lapped traffic play a role in who passes who at what time. As this rolls on and we get a long run, will it have an impact on who wins this race?”

Steve Letarte on Martin Truex Jr.’s car: “If I had a car that looked like that I’d be the happiest guy in Richmond.”

Steve Letarte on Ryan Newman: “Ryan Newman has shown up when it matters most. He’s having a season of a day.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Pit Crew performance: “We want to find out in Homestead who has the best pit crew. We get down to the four, this is what we find out. These early pit stops, early in

Stage wins stat: “11 Stage wins for Kyle Busch, he wins Stage 2 in Richmond.”

Jeff Burton with 10 to go in Stage 2: “This is exactly the kind of race that most of these leaders in points wanted to have. They wanted clean get as many stage points as they can in these two rounds because they all qualified well.”

Stage 1 Stat: Martin Truex Jr. put three playoff drivers down one lap in the closing laps of Stage 1 to take the stage win.

PRE-RACE COVERAGE

Kyle Petty on stage points: “Stage points, stage points, stage points, at a time when win and you’re in is the most important thing, we’re still talking points.”

Kyle Petty on Kyle Busch: “I know he’s mad, and we can defend him all you want to. I think he’s one of the greatest race car drivers ever to sit his rear end in a race car and hold on to a steering wheel. I think history will show that, I think he shows it weekly. But at the same time, I think carrying and doing interviews like we just saw, like we saw last week it’s a disrespect to the sport, it’s a disrespect to the media, and it’s a disrespect to the fans.”

Dale Jarret on points vs. wins: “Pointing your way in is going to be difficult. When you start talking about needing others to have problems. You’re in the best now, you’re in the playoffs is the best.”

Kyle Petty on racing in Richmond: “This is back to your roots, this is my track my roots, right here in Richmond. A lot of these guys grew up on short tracks all over the country.”

NBC Sports PR