TRUEX TRIUMPHS TO WIN POINTS TITLE
He holds off Kyle Busch to win race, Cup championship.
Driver holds off Kyle Busch and captures first overall title by winning for the eighth time this season,
HOMESTEAD, FLA. — Martin Truex Jr. capped the most successful season of his journeyman career as NASCAR’s champion.
Truex wrapped up his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup title Sunday night by winning at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he beat Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski for the championship. All but Truex were former champions, but Truex was the favorite.
He thrived in that role, didn’t flinch when fellow Toyota driver Busch tried to use a different pit strategy to steal the race and then held off a hard-charging Busch over the final 12 laps to capture the title.
It was the eighth win of the season for Truex and first championship for Denver-based Furniture Row Racing. It was the second title in three years for manufacturer Toyota.
“Just a dream season. I was going to be gutted if we didn’t win,” Truex said. “We gave it our all, and it was enough tonight.”
Busch finished second for Joe Gibbs Racing as Toyota, the most dominant manufacturer this season, went 1-2 in the finale.
Kyle Larson, who was eliminated from the playoffs last month, finished third in a Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing. Harvick, seeking his second title, was fourth in a Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.
Keselowski wound up seventh and was stopped short in trying to give Team Penske a season sweep of the two top American racing series. Penske won the IndyCar title in September.
Truex’s victory also denied Ford its third win of the weekend. Ford drivers won the Truck Series race and the Xfinity Series race. The manufacturer has not won a Cup title since 2004.
Truex climbed from his car on the frontstretch of the track and was mobbed by Furniture Row teammates. Longtime partner Sherry Pollex, who had a recurrence of ovarian cancer this year, pushed her way through the crowd and embraced Truex. Truex sobbed tears of joy. “A lot of it was for (Pollex). A lot of it was for me. A lot of it was for this team,” Truex said. “I’ve wanted this since I was a little kid. Just never give up on your dreams no matter what happens and what kind of crap you go through.”
Missing from the celebration party was Furniture Row team owner Barney Visser. He suffered a heart attack two weeks ago and is sidelined in Colorado. After pouring millions and millions of dollars into his race team, Visser watched it win its first championship on television.
Truex led nearly every statistical category this year, including wins, laps led and stage victories. Heading into Homestead, six of Truex’s wins came on 1.5mile tracks, the same layout as Homestead. Now seven of his career-best eight wins are on those sized tracks.
“I mean, yeah, they’ve had the fastest car all year, so it was good to see him win,” said Harvick.
Keselowski reiterated that he believed the redesigned Toyota Camry has had an advantage over the competition since it debuted this season, and Chevrolet will catch up with its new Camaro next year. Ford has no plans for a redesign.
“I don’t think anyone really ever had a shot this year the second that (Camry) got put on the racetrack and approved,” Keselowski said. “It kind of felt like Formula 1 where you had one car that made it through the gates heads and tails above everyone.”
It was the final race as fulltime drivers for Dale Earnhardt Jr., the most popular in NASCAR, as well as Danica Patrick and Matt Kenseth. Earnhardt retired after his 25th-place finish. Patrick blew a tire and wrecked, finishing 37th. Kenseth, who finished 15th, has no ride lined up for next year and has said he will take time away from NASCAR.
Saturday’s Games Sunday’s Games
(At) Raptors 100, Wizards 91: DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points as Toronto avenged its only home loss of the season. Toronto won its season-high fourth straight and improved to 6-1 at home. Wizards guard John Wall didn’t play (sore left knee). Bradley Beal scored 27 for the Wizards.
Pacers 120, (at) Heat 95: Bojan Bogdanovic had 26 points, and Myles Turner scored 25 to lead Indiana to its third straight win. The Pacers, who won in Miami for the first time since Nov. 12, 2014, outscored Miami 69-40 in the final 25 minutes and shot 60 percent for the game. Wayne Ellington scored 21 points, all on 3-pointers, to lead the Heat.
Warriors 118, (at) Nets 111: Stephen Curry had season highs with 39 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out to lift Golden State. Klay Thompson scored seven of his 23 points in the final two minutes for the Warriors, who played without Kevin Durant (sprained left ankle). Allen Crabbe scored 25 points for the Nets, and Spencer Dinwiddie added 21 points and eight assists.
Pistons 100, (at) Timberwolves 97: Andre Drummond had 20 points and 16 rebounds, and Tobias Harris and Avery Bradley each scored 18 to lead Detroit. Harris hit two free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining, and Jimmy Butler missed a last-second 3-point attempt as the Pistons snapped their two-game skid and Minnesota’s three-game win streak. Butler led the Timberwolves with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
(At) Suns 113, Bulls 105: T.J. Warren scored 27 points to lead six Phoenix players in double figures. Rookie Lauri Markkanen scored 26 points for the Bulls.
Nuggets at Lakers: Late
NBA notes
76ers: Guard Markelle Fultz, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft who has played only four games, will miss another 2-3 weeks as he recovers from a sore right shoulder.