Truex back in victory lane
LONG POND, Pa. — Martin Truex Jr. had his race car parked on the White House lawn last month, and he was feted with a day in his honor in his home state of New Jersey last week.
Nearly seven months after winning his first NASCAR Cup Series championship, Truex’s whirlwind victory tour remains on a barnstorming schedule.
“It just kind of reminded us of how big a deal it is to win a championship in this sport,” Truex said.
Lost in the shuffle in a season when Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch have turned the circuit into largely a two-driver show, Truex came to Pocono Raceway and reminded everyone he’s still a driver to beat in the race for the season title.
Truex stayed out during a pivotal caution late in the race to take the lead, then pulled away on a restart with seven laps left to win Sunday and thrust himself into championship contention again.
“Just happy today that things kind of went our way a little bit for once,” Truex said.
Truex said it with a straight face, even though the 37-yearold Furniture Row Racing driver is still having the type of season that — oh, all but two drivers — would be happy to produce right now. He won the fifth race of the season at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, and he had runner-up finishes in the two points races before the series headed to Pocono.
The tri-oval nicknamed the “The Tricky Triangle” was the site of Truex’s first FRR victory three years ago, a win
that launched his journeyman-to-champion career metamorphosis.
Still, Busch and Harvick have made a habit of collecting checkered flags this season as the two former Cup Series champions combined to win nine of the first 13 races. And each driver spent enough time in front Sunday — Harvick led 89 laps and Busch 13 — that a one-two finish at Pocono seemed almost certain on the 2 1/2-mile layout.
Harvick and Truex each stayed out on a caution with 20 laps left in the race. Busch made a pit stop and surrendered the lead to Truex, who then held off a hard-charging Kyle Larson down the stretch.
“We couldn’t get through there for anything back up to those guys,” Busch said.
Only four of 14 points races this season have been by won by someone not named Harvick, Busch or Truex. At Pocono, Busch finished third, Harvick fourth and Brad Keselowski fifth.
Larson, who wound up second, said what many drivers must be thinking.
“I think three of those guys,” Larson said, “are definitely head-overheels better than the rest of us.”
The 17th win of Truex’s Cup Series career was made sweeter by the presence of longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex — who has scaled back her travel schedule as she continues treatment for ovarian cancer — as well as the drivers he raced against.
“I feel like we’re getting back to what we were doing last year,” Truex said. “It’s always fun to win, especially when you beat the best guys out there.”
IndyCar: Hunter-Reay wins
DETROIT — Ryan Hunter-Reay won an IndyCar race for the first time since 2015, prevailing Sunday at Belle Isle after Andretti Autosport teammate Alexander Rossi slid off the track at a turn with about seven laps to go.
Rossi, who had started on the pole, was struggling to hold off Hunter-Reay before the mishap at a right turn on lap 64 of 70. From there, it was smooth sailing for Hunter-Reay on the 2.35-mile street course as he finished more than 11 seconds ahead of Will Power.
Ed Jones was third, followed by Scott Dixon, who won the day before on the same course. Rossi, who finished 12th, dropped out of the series points lead as Indianapolis 500 winner Power returned to the top of the standings.
Hunter-Reay’s 17th career win came a day after he finished second.
Sunday’s race was delayed for more than half an hour because the Corvette pace car crashed during a warmup lap.