Truex stays on roll headed into Loudon
JOLIET, Ill. — Martin Truex Jr. backed up his regular-season dominance with a victory yesterday in NASCAR’s playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway.
Truex solidified himself as the driver to beat for the final nine races as he chases his first Cup championship. Truex raced to his fifth victory of the season and an automatic berth in the second round of the playoffs, earning even more points in his bid to compete for the title in the finale at Homestead.
Truex had a nearly 7-second lead on Chase Elliott in the final laps and won at Chicagoland for the second straight season.
“I don’t really care a whole lot about statements. I’m just having fun,” Truex said. “It’s important to come here and not let the pressure get to you, and I think we did a good job with that.”
Elliott was second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson.
Truex’s No. 78 Toyota needed four tries through pre-race inspection before the car was cleared and later overcame an early pitroad penalty. By the end, there was no doubt the path to the NASCAR championship goes through Truex.
Truex won this race last season — also holding off Elliott for the second straight time — and again seemed right at home on the 1.5-mile track. Truex won this season on 1.5-mile tracks at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Kentucky Speedway.
Truex had a win snatched from him last week at Richmond because of a late caution and he ended up crashing. He and his team looked downright miserable accepting the regular-season title trophy.
Truex’s longtime girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, was by his side in victory lane and stepped away from the slime made famous by Nickelodeon as part of the race sponsorship. Pollex is battling a recurrence of ovarian cancer.
“I’m a lot better driver these days because of her and what she’s been through,” he said. “We’ve learned a lot about life together. We continue to face every challenge head on and not scared.”
It was Truex who was slimed in the colored goop, but he might have other drivers green with envy. He entered the playoffs at the No. 1 seed with four wins, 18 stage wins and he totaled a whopping 53 bonus points that he can keep through the first three playoff rounds.
Kyle Busch led 85 laps from the pole and won the first stage as he positioned the No. 18 Toyota as the car to beat, but was forced to pit because of a loose tire. His Joe Gibbs Racing crew was penalized for going over the wall too soon, which would drop him back to 30th. He ended the second stage a lap down and finished 15th.
Among other playoff drivers, Brad Keselowski was sixth, Jimmie Johnson was eighth, Matt Kenseth ninth, Jamie McMurray 10th, Ryan Blaney 11th, Austin Dillon 16th, Kurt Busch 19th, Kasey Kahne 21st, Ryan Newman 23rd and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 25th.
The NASCAR postseason shifts to New Hampshire Motor Speedway next week, the final fall race for the Loudon, N.H. track.