Truex Jr. cruises to victory at Fontana

FONTANA, Calif. — Martin Truex Jr. cruised to victory at Fontana on Sunday, claiming the first win of the season for last year’s NASCAR Cup Series champion.

After Kevin Harvick’s quest for a fourth consecutive victory essentially ended with an early smack into the wall, Truex dominated his 16th career victory.

He easily held off defending Fontana champ Kyle Larson, who was 11 seconds behind in second.

“I just had to take care of my tires, and once we got out in clean air, this car was unbelievable,” said Truex, who became the third driver to win from the pole at Fontana. “This is a dream come true. People kept asking, ‘When are you going to win again? When are you going to win any stages?’ Well, here you go.”

Truex finished fourth at Fontana last year, but his Furniture Row Racing Toyota was too quick for the field in a fairly clean race.

Kyle Busch was third, and Brad Keselowski fourth.

Truex led 125 laps overall while winning both stages and winning a race for the third time in his career.

He also accomplished the feat at Las Vegas and Chicagoland during his championship 2017 season.

“I would have liked to be one spot better, but I couldn’t even see Martin,” Larson said.

Harvick’s bid to become the 14th driver ever to win four straight races ended when he hit the wall after contact with Larson on the 37th lap.

Harvick’s car was repaired and he kept racing, but finished 35th.

Sarah Crabill / Getty Images Martin Truex Jr. poses with the trophy after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.