Truex returns to Chicago on a roll
Martin Truex Jr. just celebrated his 38th birthday. He has won two of his last three races. He is spending this weekend at one of his favorite tracks.
So yes, life is quite good at the moment.
Truex appears to be picking up some momentum as he tries to become the first repeat NASCAR Cup Series champion since Jimmie Johnson won five in a row from 2006 to 2010. He goes for his third consecutive victory at Chicagoland Speedway today.
Truex had to deal with a completely unraveled tire on his way to the Chicagoland victory in 2016. He had an early pit-road penalty last year, but he led for 75 laps and finished more than 7 seconds ahead of second-place Chase Elliott.
Truex and the rest of the Cup Series face a different challenge on this visit to the bumpy 1.5-mile oval. Chicagoland was being staged in September as NASCAR’s playoff opener, but it has a mid-summer date this season and the forecast calls for temperatures in the 90s.
“Grip’s been tough to find this weekend for a lot of guys,” Truex said Saturday. “New tires as well, so I mean there’s a lot of new things going on.
“It’s definitely going to be tougher, I would imagine that the groove’s going to be probably on average a little bit higher than when we run here in the fall.”
Truex is coming off a win last weekend at Sonoma, outdueling Kevin Harvick on the road course for his third victory of the season.
With his three victories, Truex could use the rest of the summer to experiment with his car ahead of the playoffs. But Truex called that strategy “a little bit overblown.”
“The experimentation thing I think is something that is more old school,” he said. “This day and age you want to have confidence in the things you’re doing and continue to do them. So that’s kind of the approach we’ll take.”
• Paul Menard has won the pole for today’s race. It’s the second career pole for Menard, who has just one top-five finish this season.
Ryan Blaney joined Menard on the front row. Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five. Truex Jr. qualified 12th. LARSON WINS XFINITY RACE >> Kyle Larson used the high line Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway to pass Harvick and drive away to a dominant victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Riding as high as he could go on the bumpy 1.5-mile oval, Larson passed Harvick with about 60 laps remaining in the 300-mile race. Brandon Jones moved into the top spot when he stayed on the track while the leaders went in for a pit stop, but the caution he needed never materialized and Larson pulled away when Jones finally went into pit road on a really hot day all over the Midwest.
Larson also won the pole, but the NASCAR Cup Series regular was sent to the back of the field because of an unapproved tire change after qualifying. It was his second win in three starts on the Xfinity Series this season, joining his victory at Las Vegas in March.
Harvick finished second, and Cole Custer was third after also starting at the back of the field due to a tire issue. It was the fifth consecutive topfive finish for Custer, who moved into the lead in the series standings by three points over Daniel Hemric. Elliott Sadler was sixth and dropped into third in the series after beginning the weekend on top of the standings.
Colleges
STANFORD WINS 24TH STRAIGHT DIRECTORS’ CUP >> Stanford received the 2017-18 Division I Directors’ Cup on Saturday, extending its streak to 24 consecutive seasons of capturing the award for the most successful intercollegiate athletic department in the nation.
Stanford compiled 1,442 points, with UCLA (1,326), Florida (1,216), USC (1,147) and Texas (1,143.25) rounding out to the top five.
MLS
TIMBERS HOLD OFF SOUNDERS >> Larrys Mabiala scored off of two corner kicks, the second the winner in the 74th minute, in the Portland Timbers’ 3-2 victory over the Seattle Sounders. Diego Valeri assisted on all three goals to help the Timbers (73-5) extend their unbeaten streak to 10 games (7-0-3). The Sounders (3-93) came from behind twice to tie it. IMPACT 2, SPORTING KANSAS CITY 0 >> Ignacio Piatti and Alejandro Silva scored in the second half, and Montreal ended the American club’s ninegame unbeaten streak. Western Conference-leading Sporting (9-3-5) lost for the first time since April 28. CREW 2, REAL SALT LAKE 1 >> In the loss, Kyle Beckerman made his 300th start for Real Salt Lake, the most by a field player for a single club in MLS history.
LAFC 4, UNION 1 >> Adama Diomande had the first hat trick in Los Angeles Football Club history to help the expansion team (9-4-3) win its third straight.