Truex makes late passes, wins at Kentucky
Martin 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 key moments late, overtaking Keselowski on lap 201 and Busch 23 laps later to become Kentucky’s first back-toback winner, earning his fourth victory this season and 19th of his career.
Ryan Blaney and Keselowski were next in Fords, followed by Kyle Busch (Toyota) and Kevin Harvick (Ford).
Dominant as Truex was a year ago in leading 152 of 274 laps, Busch and Keselowski 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 especially 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.
Truex’s dominant run to victory last July provided an opening some hoped might expand membership
in Kentucky Speedway’s exclusive winner’s club. He turned out keeping things the same by taking control when he wanted.
It was that way all night for Truex, who led 51 laps to win the first stage and led 118 after claiming the second.
Rounding out the top 10 were Kurt Busch, Erik Jones who
started second in a Toyota Aric Almirola, Kyle Larson and Joey Logano. Larson ran in the top five for much of the night, an impressive performance considering he started from the back of the field. KNAUS EXTENSION >> Chad Knaus has signed a two-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports through 2020 to remain as crew chief for the No. 48 Chevrolet of seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.
Knaus, who has worked with Johnson since 2002, said during a news conference Saturday at Kentucky Speedway that he signed the deal in the past couple of weeks. His current contract was set to expire after this season. He described his decision to stay as “pretty easy,” even as the team seeks sponsors to replace home improvement chain Lowe’s. INDYCAR QUALIFYING >> Josef Newgarden took advantage of a rapidly drying track to take the pole position for today’s IndyCar race at Toronto.
Newgarden passed Scott Dixon by just 0.1964 seconds after gambling on a slow start in the final qualifying run. A light drizzle made it seem like he’d miscalculated with Dixon getting a sizable lead, but the rain let up and the 27-year-old Newgarden found his tires gripping better. As the last car left on the Exhibition Place course, Newgarden pushed his car to the limit to knock Dixon off on his final lap.
“It was very thrilling from my side, it was a fun session to try and do something like that,” said Newgarden, who will defend his Indy Toronto title today.