Truex Continues Hot Streak at Rainy Charlotte

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CONCORD, NC - RIS - Martin Truex, Jr. continued his hot streak, winning the Bank of America 500 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup race in damp, dreary Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Truex had to survive late cautions to earn the victory, his sixth of the season.  Chase Elliott finished second for the second straight week and Kevin Harvick was third.

"They got us track position, and we were able to keep it. Just a never give-up attitude with these guys. ... At this time of year you want to click on all cylinders, and we just did everything right."

Truex leads all drivers in wins and added more bonus points to his series-leading total. He also earned a slot in the playoff's third round with the win, the fourth in four races for car manufacturer Toyota. Truex won the opener at Chicagoland Speedway and Kyle Busch won at New Hampshire and Dover.

Rounding out the top 10 were: Deny Hamlin and Jamie McMurray, Daniel Suarez, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson. Suarez and Kahne are the only drivers in that group who are not in the playoffs.

Kyle Busch got overheated in his race car after a tough day - he hit the wall at least three times and said he would need oxygen after the race. He laid down on the infield grass after climbing from his car on pit road. Medical personnel put ice on his chest and later brought a stretcher. Team owner Joe Gibbs also checked on him. Busch later was taken by ambulance to the infield care center.

Harvick outran Chase Elliott by two seconds to win the first stage (90 laps). Following in the top 10 were: Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Daniel Suarez and Jimmie Johnson. Harvick led 39 laps in the stage, second to Hamlin’s 40.

 Harvick finished one second in front of Elliott to win the second stage. Also in the top 10 were Kenseth, Truex, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Larson, Johnson, Ryan Blaney and McMurray.

Truex failed to score points in the first stage of Sunday’s Bank of America 500, the first race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs’ Round of 12. That marked the first time since Daytona in July that Truex had finished outside the top 10 in Stage 1 of a race. But with the event winding down, the series leader was back in his usual spot, at the front of the field.

“We qualified horribly, and I was mad about it,” said Truex, who started 17th instead of his customary position on or near the front row. (Crew chief) Cole (Pearn) was mad about it and in 20 minutes we’re like ‘All right, I think this is where we went wrong.’ And he’s like ‘Yeah, that’s where we went wrong. We screwed up, we’ll get them Sunday.’”

Truex did, with help from his pit crew, which picked up positions on every stop and finally got Truex the lead on Lap 234 during an exchange of green-flag pit stops where he leap-frogged past Kevin Harvick into the top spot.

“Unbelievable win,” Truex said. “Just a total team effort. Every single guy – every guy on this team just did a perfect job today, and I can’t be more proud of them—and this time of the year is just when you want it to happen.

“You dream about days like today. I don’t know if we had the best car, but we damn sure got it in Victory Lane.”

At the end of the two-lap shootout that sent the race three laps past its scheduled distance of 334 laps, Truex took the checkered flag 0.911 seconds ahead of runner-up Chase Elliott, who finished second for the second consecutive week and third time in the last four races.

“We needed to be a little better I think in the middle stage and not lose so much track position,” said Elliott, who was ninth in both the first and second stages. “That was where Martin came on and got his track position, and we lost ours, and it was just hard to get all of it back there toward the end.

“It was a hard-fought day and really, from where we were in those middle stages, I was proud of the way we fought back and were able to get back to the front. It’s frustrating to run like this. We’re definitely tired of running second. But, if we keep running like we are, hopefully the opportunities will be there.”

Unofficial Race Results for the 58th Annual Bank Of America 500 - Sunday, October 8, 2017
Charlotte Motor Speedway - Concord, NC - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 337 Laps - 505.5 Miles

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 17 78 Martin Truex Jr (P) Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 337 4 47 Running 2 91 5
2 7 24 Chase Elliott (P) SunEnergy1 Chevrolet 337 2 2 53 Running 2 12
3 3 4 Kevin Harvick (P) Jimmy John's Ford 337 1 1 54 Running 4 149 2
4 1 11 Denny Hamlin (P) FedEx Office Toyota 337 6 6 43 Running 2 45
5 18 1 Jamie McMurray (P) Sherwin-Williams Chevrolet 337 3 10 41 Running 1 4
6 14 19 Daniel Suarez # STANLEY Toyota 337 9 33 Running
7 25 48 Jimmie Johnson (P) Lowe's Chevrolet 337 10 8 34 Running
8 15 21 Ryan Blaney (P) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 337 9 31 Running
9 9 5 Kasey Kahne Road to Race Day Chevrolet 337 28 Running 1 2
10 10 42 Kyle Larson (P) Target Chevrolet 337 4 7 38 Running 1 12
11 2 20 Matt Kenseth (P) Tide Pods Toyota 337 7 3 38 Running
12 23 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide Chevrolet 337 25 Running
13 22 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (P) SunnyD Ford 337 24 Running
14 26 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 337 23 Running
15 6 2 Brad Keselowski (P) Alliance Truck Parts Ford 337 22 Running
16 13 3 Austin Dillon DOW Chevrolet 337 21 Running
17 38 77 Erik Jones # 5-hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota 337 20 Running
18 21 37 Chris Buescher Gain Chevrolet 337 19 Running
19 20 27 Paul Menard Menards/Schrock Chevrolet 337 18 Running
20 19 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger ClickList Chevrolet 337 17 Running
21 27 13 Ty Dillon # GEICO Chevrolet 337 16 Running
22 8 41 Kurt Busch Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford 337 8 5 24 Running
23 29 32 Matt DiBenedetto EJ Wade Foundation Ford 337 14 Running
24 24 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 337 13 Running
25 30 34 Landon Cassill Love'sTravel Stops/Roller Bites Ford 336 12 Running
26 28 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 335 11 Running
27 5 14 Clint Bowyer Haas Automation Ford 335 10 Running
28 39 23 Corey LaJoie # MyFreedomSmokes.com Toyota 333 9 Running
29 4 18 Kyle Busch (P) Interstate Batteries Toyota 331 5 14 Running 2 22
30 37 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt hulu Chevrolet 330 7 Running
31 34 15 Reed Sorenson Xchange of America Chevrolet 330 6 Running
32 33 51 * BJ McLeod(i) Donnie Neuenberger Foundation Chevrolet 326 0 Running
33 36 66 * Timmy Hill(i) O.C.R. Gaz Bar Chevrolet 326 0 Running
34 32 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 295 3 Running
35 16 95 Michael McDowell Procore Chevrolet 293 2 Running
36 35 55 * Gray Gaulding # Low T Center Toyota 267 1 Running
37 31 38 David Ragan TheHouse.com Ford 263 1 Accident
38 12 10 Danica Patrick Warriors In Pink Ford 263 1 Accident
39 40 83 * Brett Moffitt(i) Champion Machinery Toyota 89 0 Accident
40 11 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 43 1 Accident
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 38 Mins, 00 Secs. Average Speed: 139.128 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.911 Seconds

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2017, Issue 9, Posted 11:45 PM, 10.08.2017