Truex makes it look easy in Kentucky Speedway win

Martin Truex Jr. boldly declared his Toyota the best car he had ever raced, and several statistics make it hard to dispute him. There also was plenty of visual evidence of how close to perfect his Saturday night went.

Truex was dominant throughout and had enough left on a final restart to win the NASCAR Cup race night at Kentucky Speedway. “It was very big to do what we did tonight,” Truex said. “I can never recall saving fuel and pulling away from everybody before, so it was pretty amazing.”

Second in points entering the 400-mile event, Truex started second beside Kyle Busch and won the first two stages. Truex led the final segment by as many as 15 seconds before a final caution created overtime and bunched the field together.

That made no difference as Truex got a push past Busch on the restart and went on to his third victory of the season and 10th of his career. He led five times for 152 of 274 laps and swept all three stages in the No. 78 Toyota to earn 60 points, including seven playoff points, and draw within one of standings leader Kyle Larson, who finished second in a Chevy. Truex’s dominant performance wasn’t the only reason he was smiling. He was eager to get back and bring his girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, home after a medical procedure. Pollex has battled ovarian cancer and tweeted Saturday that there had been a recurrence requiring surgery.

“Everything went perfectly good, went as planned,” he said. “I’m bringing her home tomorrow, so I’m excited to see her and everything’s going great. She was pretty excited.” Chase Elliott was third in a Chevy, followed by Denny Hamlin and Busch in Toyotas. Busch led 112 laps, but fell short of his third Kentucky victory.

Then again, Truex wasn’t inclined to let anyone get close in earning his first Kentucky triumph. Pole winner Busch pounced right away and led the first 66 laps but often had Truex close by in the battle of Toyotas. Truex twice found the speed to make timely passes and ultimately took the first two stages, but he saved his best for the last segment.

Running seventh as the third stage began, Truex was back in front within several laps and merely got stronger as he went along.