Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Truex Jr. pulls away on final restart to win
Busch made a pit stop and surrendered the lead to Truex. Truex then held off a hard-charging 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 back up to those guys,” Busch said.
The Harvick-BuschTruex champions trio have won 10 of 14 races.
“I think three of those guys are definitely headover-heels 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 in victory lane,” he said over the radio about the Pennsylvania brewery. “We’re going to drink it all!”
He had it sprayed on him instead in victory lane.
“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.”
Truex, who had two wins at this point last season before he took off and won six more, celebrated with his longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex. Pollex was a fixture in victory lane last season but scaled back her travel schedule as she continues her battle with ovarian cancer.
“I think more than anything, she was happy she picked the right one to come to,” Truex said, smiling.
She was by his side three weeks ago when they were both honored on the South Lawn of the White House. Truex, a Mayetta, New Jersey native, was honored last week by Gov. Phil Murphy and he declared May 31 as Martin Truex Jr. Day.
Truex has had little time off as he bounces from one honor to the next.
“Honestly, as crazy as it’s been, it’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “I’ve gotten to do a lot of cool stuff. Going to the White House was amazing and to get to meet the President and get the tour and the way he treated our team really made us feel special.”
With more race like Pocono, Truex may get to do it again. of the drought.
“If you look at the past Indy 500s in ‘17 and ‘16, ones I think we could have won — both of those. Led the most laps in one of them, didn’t finish the race,” he said. “Catching James Hinchcliffe at Long Beach in the last five laps or whatever it was. The electrical system shuts down. Leading in 2016 at Pocono and the same electrical problem shuts the car down.”
Hunter-Reay can finally put all that behind him after he prevailed at Belle Isle on Sunday, taking over the lead when teammate Alexander Rossi slid off the track at a turn with about seven laps to go. It was Hunter-Reay’s 17th career IndyCar victory but his first since Pocono in 2015.
Rossi, the pole winner, 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 HunterReay on the 2.35-mile street course. He finished more than 11 seconds ahead of second-place Will Power.
“There was just no way anyone was going to beat him,” Power said. “We just seemed to struggle a little bit on full tanks and cold tires, but very happy with the result. You know, I feel like with what we had, that’s the most that we could have got out of that race.”
Ed Jones finished third, followed by Scott Dixon. Rossi fell to 12th and dropped out of the series points lead.
“Our car was quick. We led a lot of the race,” Rossi said. “I don’t have an answer for you, unfortunately.”
Rossi and Hunter-Reay both drive for Andretti Autosport.