Move over Harvick, Kyle Busch: This not just two-horse Cup race
Truex Jr. serves notice by taking Pocono 400 win
LONG POND, Pa. — Martin Truex Jr. had his car parked on the White House lawn and was feted with a day in his honor in his home state of New Jersey. Nearly seven months after winning his first NASCAR Cup 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 where Kevin Harvick and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch have turned the Cup Series into a two-driver show, Truex came to Pocono Raceway and gave the field a reminder that he’s still a driver to beat in the championship race.
Truex stayed out on a pivotal caution late to take the lead, then pulled away off a restart with seven laps left to win the Pocono 400 on Sunday and thrust himself into title contention.
“Just happy today that things kind of went our way a little bit for once,” Truex said.
Truex said it with a straight face, as the 37-year-old Furniture Row Racing driver is still having the type of season that — oh, all but two drivers — would love to produce. He won the fifth race of the season at Fontana and had runner-up finishes in each of the last two races headed into Pocono where he won his first race for FRR in 2015 and launched his journeyman-to-champion career metamorphosis.
Still, Busch and Harvick had made a habit of collecting checkered flags; the two former Cup champions combined to win nine of the first 13 races. And each driver spent enough time in front — Harvick led 89 laps; Busch 13 — that a 1-2 finish at Pocono seemed almost certain on the 2½-mile track.
Truex and Harvick each stayed out on a caution with 20 laps left in the race. Busch made a pit stop and surrendered the lead to Truex. Truex then held off a hardcharging Kyle Larson down the stretch and showed he’s still a threat to win his second straight title.
“We couldn’t get back up through there for anything,” Busch said.
The Harvick-busch-truex champions trio have won 10 of 14 races.
“I think those three guys are definitely head-overheels better than the rest of us,” Larson said.
Larson was second, followed by Busch and Harvick. Brad Keselowski was fifth.
Busch won the Xfinity Series race Saturday to help Toyota sweep the weekend.
But Pocono belonged to Truex and he won his 17th career Cup race.
“I hope they got a lot of Yuengling (beer) in Victory Lane,” he said over the radio about the Pennsylvania brewery. “We’re going to drink it all!”