Truex Holds off Kyle Larson for Pocono Win

Jeff Zelevansky, Getty Images

LONG POND, PA – RIS – Martin Truex, Jr. cleared the field in a restart with seven laps to go and went on to a resounding victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race at Pocono Raceway on Sunday.  The field lined on the restart with four drivers-Truex, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Kyle Larson competing for the win.  After a fierce battle. Larson, Busch and Harvick fell back and Truex crossed the finish line for his second victory of 2018.

The No. 78 battled through adversity to win this weekend, overcoming a pit stop that dropped him as low as 14th while Harvick and Busch dominated the race. It is the 17th win of Truex's career in 455 starts.

The key to Truex’s win was not pitting for tires with 20 laps to go.  Being out front has its advantages at Pocono, so all but Busch stayed out.  Kevin Harvick had it for most of the event, leading a race-high 89 laps. Four-time winner Kyle Busch had it late, winning the race off pit road on Lap 126 and leading Truex and Harvick until a debris caution slowed the action on Lap 139 and changed the course of the race.

Busch finished third and Harvick fourth, as Kyle Larson grabbed second place after a Lap 144 restart and held the rest of the way, finishing 2.496 seconds behind Truex. With the victory, the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota made sure NASCAR’s Dominant Duo of Harvick and Busch can rightfully now be renamed the Big Three.

“It’s been a really good weekend overall,” said Truex, who led 31 laps and overcame a slow pit stop that dropped him to 14th after he won the race’s first stage. “I feel like we’re getting back to where we were last year.

“It’s always fun to win, but especially when you beat the best guys out there. These two guys (Busch and Harvick) were so fast today. Honestly, we were all really equal. It was a matter of who could get out front. The 4 (Harvick) and I stayed on tires. We felt like in practice we were really fast on scuffs. (Crew chief) Cole (Pearn) made a good call to stay out, and once I got in clean air, this thing was a rocket ship.”

Busch pitting made perfect sense.  In last year’s spring race, Busch stayed out late in the race  and didn’t pit for tires.  The result was not a win by Busch.

“We decided to pit and put tires on again right there, because we had about 10 or 11 laps on tires,” Busch said. “And that’s where we got burned here in this race in that exact situation last year. So we didn’t want to make the same mistake again.

“But once I got back there, I just couldn’t pass those guys. I was just stuck where I was at. The four tires just didn’t do anything today. It was certainly all about being out front.”

Harvick held the lead when Derrike Cope spun, on Lap 124.  Harvick pitted for tires, but got blocked in his pit by pole-sitter Ryan Blaney and Busch beat him out of the pits.  He says the race was over then.

“We had a good car all day,” Harvick said. “Just came down to really losing control of the race on the last pit stop. Really not pitting or pitting didn’t really seem to matter. We lost control to the 18 (Busch) and wound up losing a couple more spots on the restart starting on the inside, and that was the end of the day. But the car was fast, and everybody did a great job. It just didn’t work out.”

Brad Keselowski ran fifth, followed by Blaney, Aric Almirola and Jimmie Johnson, who led his first two laps of the season during the first exchange of green-flag pit stops. Busch leads the series by 87 points over Harvick in second and 90 over Joey Logano (ninth Sunday) in third.


Unofficial Race Results for the 37th Annual Pocono 400 - June 3, 2018 - Pocono Raceway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Playoff Pts, Tms Led, Laps Led, Pts, Status
1) 4, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota, 160, 1, 4, 6, 2, 31, 57, Running
2) 13, Kyle Larson, No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet, 160, 8, 6, , , , 43, Running
3) 5, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Red White & Blue Toyota, 160, 3, 2, , 1, 13, 51, Running
4) 2, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Beer Ford, 160, 2, 1, 1, 4, 89, 52, Running
5) 17, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Wurth Ford, 160, 10, 7, , 2, 10, 37, Running
6) 1, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Duracell Ford, 160, 7, 8, , 1, 11, 38, Running
7) 34, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 160, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 15, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, 160, 9, 9, , 1, 2, 33, Running
9) 7, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 160, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 11, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 160, 6, 5, , , , 38, Running
11) 20, Paul Menard, No. 21 Motorcraft /Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 160, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 12, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 26, Matt Kenseth, No. 6 Ford Ford, 160, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 23, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Little Hug Fruit Barrels Ford, 160, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 3, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 GEARWRENCH Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 21, David Ragan, No. 38 MDS Transport Ford, 160, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 27, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 16, William Byron #, No. 24 Unifirst Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 6, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford, 160, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 9, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Busch Light Ford, 160, 4, 3, , , , 32, Running
21) 30, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Dockside Logistics Ford, 160, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 24, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 29, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 18, Daniel Suarez, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota, 160, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 8, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 28, Cole Custer(i), No. 51 Haas CNC/Prefund Capital Ford, 160, , , , , , 0, Running
27) 14, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 160, , 10, , , , 11, Running
28) 31, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 Chevrolet, 159, , , , , , 0, Running
29) 25, Erik Jones, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota, 159, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 35, Cole Whitt, No. 72 Chevrolet, 158, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 33, Landon Cassill, No. 00 TW Cable LLC Chevrolet, 157, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 37, * JJ Yeley(i), No. 7 Steakhouse Elite Chevrolet, 157, , , , , , 0, Running
33) 36, Gray Gaulding, No. 23 BK Racing Toyota, 157, , , , , , 4, Running
34) 38, * Derrike Cope, No. 99 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet, 152, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 10, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 146, 5, , , , , 8, Accident
36) 22, Kasey Kahne, No. 95 FDNY Foundation Chevrolet, 120, , , , , , 1, Transmission
37) 32, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Zynga Poker Ford, 113, , , , , , 1, Brakes
38) 19, Darrell Wallace Jr. #, No. 43 Weis Markets Chevrolet, 108, , , , 1, 4, 1, Engine
 (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) non-charter team

Race Fast Facts
Race Winner:
 Martin Truex Jr., Age: 37
Team : No. 78 - Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota
Owner: Furniture Row Racing
Crew Chief: Cole Pearn
Martin Truex Jr. won the 37th Annual Pocono 400, his 17th victory in 455 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his second victory and ninth top-10 finish in 2018.
This is his second victory and 10th top-10 finish in 25 races at Pocono Raceway.
Kyle Larson (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in nine races at Pocono Raceway. It is his ninth top-10 finish in 2018.
Kyle Busch (third) posted his 12th top-10 finish in 27 races at Pocono Raceway.
William Byron (18th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Kyle Busch leads the point standings by 87 points over Kevin Harvick.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 52 Mins, 00 Secs.
Total Race Length - 160 Laps - 400 Miles
Average Speed: 139.535 MPH
Margin of Victory: 2.496 Seconds
 Race Comments: Martin Truex Jr. won the 37th Annual Pocono 400, his 17th victory in 455 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races. No cars dropped to the rear of the field prior to the start of the race.
Caution Flags: 6 for 23 laps: Laps: 52-56 (Stage 1 Conclusion [43]); 102-106 (Stage 2 Conclusion [41]); 126-129 (No. 99 spin in turn 3 [38]); 140-143 (debris in turn 1 [37]); 148-150 (No. 11, No. 88 incident in turn 1 [51]); 152-153 (No. 20, No. 22, No. 31 incident on frontstretch [19]).
Lead Changes: 11 among 7 drivers: R. Blaney 1-11; K. Harvick 12-25; J. Johnson 26-27; B. Keselowski 28-34; K. Harvick 35-43; M. Truex Jr. 44-53; B. Keselowski 54-56; K. Harvick 57-78; D. Wallace Jr. # 79-82; K. Harvick 83-126; Kyle Busch 127-139; M. Truex Jr. 140-160.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kevin Harvick, #4 
Busch Pole Award: Ryan Blaney, #12 176.897 mph
Fastest Lap: Kevin Harvick, No. 4 
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Roush-Yates Engines, No. 4 
Moog Go the Extra Mile: Kyle Busch, No. 18 crew chief Adam Stevens, 0.295 seconds
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: William Byron, No. 24

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Ron Fleshman with John Davison

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 2018, Issue 6, Posted 7:24 PM, 06.03.2018