Truex Jr. repeats as Kentucky winner

SPARTA, Ky. — No matter which driver led Martin Truex Jr., the advantage always seemed temporary as he positioned himself to make a pivotal move. Distance usually followed his passes, particularly after his final one. Truex Jr. won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway, passing Brad Keselowski and then Kurt Busch late on the way to repeating as champion on Saturday night.

Truex’s No. 78 Toyota Camry appeared even more dominant than last July as he led five times for 174 of 267 laps and swept the first two stages from the pole. The defending Cup champion was always in contention in the 400-mile race, even while trailing. He proved it at clutch moments late, overtaking Keselowski on Lap 201 and Busch 23 laps later to become Kentucky’s first back-to-back winner, earning his fourth victory this season and 19th of his career.

“It feels good, you know,” said Truex, who won by 1.901 seconds on the 1.5-mile track. “You never know how these races are going to play out. You never know quite what is going to happen, and we had such a strong Toyota tonight they weren’t going to beat us.”

His competition certainly couldn’t hold him off. Drivers such as Keselowski and Kurt Busch did their best, only to be overtaken by a car and driver that have made Kentucky his domain.

“We had better speed than we’ve had at mile-anda-halves, but not enough to run with the 78 [Truex],” said Keselowski, who led twice for 38 laps.

Dominant as Truex was here a year ago in leading 152 of 274 laps, Busch and Keselowski still loomed as favorites after combining for five victories in the previous seven races. Keselowski’s knack for winning this race in even-numbered years was particularly compelling, and for a moment it looked like he might do it again with a bold rush off pit road to claim the lead entering the final segment. Truex soon took care of that before Busch grabbed the lead on Lap 210, a brief edge as the defending Cup champion took over for good 14 laps later.