Martin Truex Jr.

Martin Truex Jr. cruised to victory in Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

Kyle Busch was the only driver who presented a challenge to Truex heading into the final lap yet still finished 1.861 seconds behind Truex when he crossed the finish line. Third-place finisher Ryan Blaney was 33.549 seconds off the No. 19 car.

Truex led 59 of the race's 90 laps.

Retweet to congratulate @MartinTruex_Jr and the No. 19 team on their WIN in Sonoma! pic.twitter.com/u4oUFTaCR8

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 23, 2019

He now has four wins in 2019, tying him with Busch for the most in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Here are the top 10 finishers, with the full leaderboard available on NASCAR.com:

        

Toyota/Save Mart 350 Leaderboard

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Kyle Busch

3. Ryan Blaney

4. Matt DiBenedetto

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Ryan Newman

8. Erik Jones

9. Aric Almirola

10. Kyle Larson

        

This is the second consecutive year in which Truex largely dominated the field at Sonoma. He claimed the checkered flag in 2018 and led 62 laps.

The only late drama from Sunday came with six laps to go as Truex caught up to Michael McDowell and Ty Dillon. Because of Sonoma's layout, Truex had to be patient with when he passed the two, which allowed Busch to make up some ground.

But even that wasn't much of an obstacle for Truex. By the time he got around McDowell and Dillon, he retained a comfortable distance on Busch. From there, the 2017 cup champion had a straightforward path to Victory Lane.

"It was so tough," Truex said, per Performance Racing Network. "He was catching us pretty good on his new tires, luckily we were able to build up enough gap when we pitted early. It was a bit of a challenge but we evened out there at the end."

Even Busch seemed to acknowledge he was fighting an uphill battle down the stretch:

Kyle Busch said (joked?) he knew he wasn’t ever going to catch Truex and was just putting on a show for TV to make it more entertaining.

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) June 23, 2019

sixth in a Monster Energy Cup Series race entering Sunday.

The significance of the moment was evident in DiBenedetto's post-race interview:

And Reddit goes wild! @mattdracing talks with @JamieLittleTV in Sonoma after claiming his first career Top-5 finish. pic.twitter.com/KFIXqzt0nX

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 23, 2019

Kyle Larson started from the pole for the third straight year at Sonoma. His previous two poles didn't ultimately provide much of advantage as he finished 26th in 2017 and 14th in 2018.

Larson's problems started almost immediately, as he surrendered the lead on the opening lap and steadily slipped down the leaderboard.

Kyle Larson started on the pole but he's struggling to find speed at the moment. He's back to third and he's got Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin stacked up behind him.

The top two have driven away by nearly two seconds #TSM350

— PRN (@PRNlive) June 23, 2019

He wound up in 10th place, which is his best result at the track.

The next race up is the Camping World 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, on June 30. Kyle Busch is the defending champion after holding off Larson to win the Overton's 400.

According to Driver Averages, Larson has the highest average finish (seventh) among active drivers at Chicagoland. Chase Elliott has performed well there, too, notching two top-fives in three tries, which could be his opportunity to rebound after completing only 60 laps Sunday.

Larson is still looking for his first win of the season—unlike Elliott who already has that all-important victory on his resume—so a trip to Illinois could be what he needs to spark a climb up the playoff standings.

Martin Truex Jr. won his third Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in five tries as he took down the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

Truex, who won the Toyota Owners 400 and Gander RV 400 in the past six weeks, led for 116 laps and took down Stage 3.

Joey Logano will hold on to first place in the season-long Monster Energy NASCAR Cup standings after finishing second in Charlotte. He managed a top-two finish despite never finishing top six in the first three stages or leading a lap at any point.

Kyle Busch led for the second-most laps (79) and took third. Brad Keselowski, who won the first and second stages, finished 19th.

Here's a look at the top-10 finishers as well as highlights and reaction:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Joey Logano

3. Kyle Busch

4. Chase Elliott

5. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

6. Chris Buescher

7. Alex Bowman

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. William Byron

10. Kevin Harvick

     

Highlights and Reaction

Truex was the center of attention for much of the race, none more notably than when he made a four-wide pass within the final five laps to take first.

Brandon Marks of the Charlotte Observer described the action:

"When a caution came out with 10 laps left, that set up a five-lap dash to the finish and an insane restart. David Ragan opted not to pit, instead setting up a situation where Truex and challenger Joey Logano had to battle to get by one another. Truex made a risky pass going four-wide, and Logano hit him in the rear bumper, shaking the No. 19 loose.

"But Truex, somehow, hung on. He steadied himself. Stabilized what had been anything but a stable race. And from there, Truex only had to drive away for his second 600 victory."

Truex had an eventful night. He made contact with Bayley Currey, ending the latter driver's night early:

A BIG hit for Bayley Currey after contact from Martin Truex Jr. pic.twitter.com/nYicKa7mrY

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 27, 2019

      

Currey's team didn't seem pleased, per comments that RACER writer Kelly Crandall relayed:

Currey was spun off Turn 2 by Truex, sending the 52 to the inside wall. Currey is climbing out of the car as the team says that Truex’s spotter came over and said “it just took off on him.” Someone from the 52 replies, “looks like he needed a caution to me.” #NASCAR

— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) May 27, 2019

Truex also wasn't happy with Chase Elliott earlier in the race:

Martin Truex didn’t appreciate Chase Elliott sliding up in front of him, forcing Truex off the throttle coming off the corner. Pearn concurs, “that was a bit much.” Truex said he’ll ride Elliott’s door and spin him out, “f—k it.” #NASCAR

— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) May 27, 2019

He ended up winning his second Coke 600, though, despite some earlier pessimism. He was ninth after Stage 1 and 12th following Stage 2.

Martin Truex Jr. is a 2-time winner of the #CocaCola600: "I don't know how we did it. We blew that right front tire early and thought 'that's not good.' These 1.5s have been tough on us this year, Kansas was a reality check for us."

He's celebrating in @Outback Victory Lane!

— PRN (@PRNlive) May 27, 2019

Logano didn't fare well in the beginning but saved his best for last en route to a second-place finish. He credited his pit crew for a job well done.

Joey Logano: "Had a rough start to this thing, guys did a good job fixing it up so we were competitive at the end. That's all you can ask for...To be that close to the Coke 600, that's a really big deal as a Coke driver."

He comes home second for @Team_Penske #CocaCola600

— PRN (@PRNlive) May 27, 2019

As for Keselowski, his night ended in disappointment with 10 laps remaining.

A caution with 10 laps to go!@keselowski brings out the yellow in the #CocaCola600. pic.twitter.com/FoiaDG30rU

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 27, 2019

He still impressed with some nice moves to take some leads, however, including a nifty pass on Alex Bowman to win Stage 2.

NEW LEADER: @keselowski makes the move to get by @AlexBowman88! pic.twitter.com/bRZyTT3SjU

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 27, 2019

Despite the 19th-place mark, his night was better than those of Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson and Clint Bowyer, however, as those three crashed near the end. No injuries were reported.

BIG CRASH pic.twitter.com/pgQnx2WjYy

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 27, 2019

The race held a special significance, as NASCAR paid a midrace tribute to servicewomen and men with a moment of silence during Memorial Day weekend.

Freedom isn't free. We remember those who paid the ultimate price to protect our country. pic.twitter.com/0x6EpG34KE

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 27, 2019

NASCAR heads to Pocono Raceway for the Pocono 400 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. FS1 will televise the race.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Gander RV 400 at Dover International Speedway on Monday, following Sunday's weather postponement. 

Retweet to congratulate @MartinTruex_Jr on winning the #GanderRV400 at the @MonsterMile! 🏁 pic.twitter.com/47TkAyjAnG

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 6, 2019

MTJ! Retweet to congratulate the No. 19 team on their WIN in Dover. pic.twitter.com/93jBCmCu0S

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 6, 2019

It was his 21st NASCAR Cup win, second in the past three races and third at the Delaware concrete track. 

The New Jersey native held off a stiff challenge from Alex Bowman, who also finished just behind Truex in the second stage and now has been the runner-up in consecutive races.

This was fun!

Watch as @MartinTruex_Jr and @AlexBowman88 battle it out for the stage victory at the @MonsterMile. #GanderRV400 pic.twitter.com/75SwqB3M28

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 6, 2019

Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, Joey Logano, William Byron, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10 finishers.

Logano, the defending Cup series champion, won the first stage.

Truex made quite the comeback Monday, starting from the back of the field after failing his pre-race inspection twice Sunday, per Jim Utter of Motorsport.com.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver said on Fox Sports 1 after his victory (h/t Jerry Bonkowski of NBC Sports):

"It feels incredible. What a race car we had today. We've got one hell of a team. We came here with a new setup this time. We had been good, but not good enough.

"Thanks to all these fans for coming out here today. This is awesome. I promise, it wasn't easy. It was a lot of work, it was tough, but this race car, man, was incredible. Without Talladega (finished 20th), we would have won two in a row."

They'll definitely keep that setup. 😉@MartinTruex_Jr looks back on how his team got it done today at the @MonsterMile. pic.twitter.com/xMxvli6yyx

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 6, 2019

Truex is cooking right now. He was excellent on Monday, winning by 9.5 seconds, though Bowman has been putting together some nice races of late himself, particularly in his past two. 

"I'm worn out," the second-year Richard Childress Racing driver said after the race. "This is the physically hardest race of the year for me, for sure. Things went Martin's way today. I wish I was in Martin's way at the end of the race, but we had a shot at it and that's all you can ask for. ... It'd be better if we had a trophy, but we needed this one, for sure."

Larson was pleased with his third-place finish:

.@KyleLarsonRacin (P3) got the solid day he needed.

This is his eighth top-10 finish in 11 races at the @MonsterMile! pic.twitter.com/ogHCqSo3cy

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 6, 2019

Not everyone was happy after the race. A few folks weren't pleased with the new rules package in place, which, according to Autoweek.com, "features a horsepower target of 550 for tracks larger than 1.3 miles. That means Dover features 2018 level horsepower with the added downforce of the 2019 regulations."

Kyle Busch, in particular, wasn't pleased, though he wasn't alone (WARNING: NSFW LANGUAGE).

Let me second @KyleBusch statement, this package sucks. Has nothing to do with where he finished https://t.co/2lQXukinFq

— Bob Leavine (@BLeavine) May 6, 2019

.@KevinHarvick post-race (P4) 👇🏼

"Here's the hard thing about the package. I think that NASCAR's tried to accomplish a lot of things with one particular package, but you look at how the cars drive behind each other & from a driver's standpoint, it's hard to race them. Anywhere."

— Davey Segal (@DaveyCenter) May 6, 2019

Busch—who tied Morgan Stewart's 1990 record for the most top-10 finishes to start a season (11) and sits atop the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup leaderboard with 430 points, 15 points clear of Logano—hasn't been shy about his misgivings with the current rules package.

"You pretty much know as a driver what too fast is," he added last week. "If you (crash here) with the speeds we are carrying into the corner, it is going to hurt. The faster you go, the harder you are going to hit the wall.

Martin Truex Jr. captured the checkered flag in the 2019 Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, marking his first short-track victory in 81 tries.

The title is also Truex Jr.'s first win as a member of Joe Gibbs Racing, and it wasn't an easy one.

He's done it! @MartinTruex_Jr captures his first short-track victory by holding off @joeylogano in Richmond! pic.twitter.com/fwrAol22Lm

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 14, 2019

He'll remember this one for a long time.

Well done, @MartinTruex_Jr! 🏁 pic.twitter.com/V0A49KnGUC

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 14, 2019

Truex Jr. led for 186 laps in total, more than any other car, but had to stave off a surge from Joey Logano. The No. 22 car won Stage 2, but Truex Jr. recaptured the lead with a speedy maneuvering off pit road. Clint Bowyer crossed the finish line third but was on Truex Jr.'s tail with 30 laps to go.

All told, Logano held the lead for 52 laps, while Bowyer was never quite able to get ahead. The difference between first and third place was just 0.521 seconds.

What more did @joeylogano need at the finish?

He explains. 👇 pic.twitter.com/wdn2Tht2UM

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 14, 2019

Overall, there were eight lead changes and four different leaders throughout the 400 laps.

Kevin Harvick had won the pole at Friday's qualifying in Richmond, Virginia, but finished fourth after leading for 31 laps to begin. Four of the top 10 finishers from the qualifying round were penalized for failing the pre-race inspection and had to start from the rear: Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Jimmie Johnson.

Among that group, Jimmie Johnson's 12th place finish was the best.

Truex Jr. was the pole winner at the 2018 Toyota Owners 400, but Kyle Busch won last year's race. Busch finished in eighth place on Saturday night after winning the first stage and leading for 101 laps.

Even so, Busch has finished inside the top-10 in all Cup Series races this season—the only driver to do so. Saturday night was his ninth consecutive top-10 race, and he sits atop the standings in the Monster Energy NASCAP Cup Series.

The win did wonders for Truex Jr., who sat 107 points behind first-place Busch heading into Richmond.

As far as owners, this season has been dominated by Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske. Truex Jr. notched Joe Gibbs Racing's sixth win in nine races this season, while Logano is a Penske driver. 

Looking forward in the Cup Series, the Geico 500 hits Talladega Superspeedway in Talledega, Alabama, beginning on April 26.

Kyle Busch earned his first win of the 2019 Monster Energy Cup season with a first-place finish at the TicketGuardian 500 on Sunday.

The No. 18 car led 177 of 312 laps and made his final pass with 15 left to come away with the victory at ISM Raceway in Phoenix. Martin Truex Jr. ended up in second place, 1.259 seconds behind the leader.

Although the season is still less than a month old, Busch has put himself in great shape for the standings with his latest win.

       

Final Results

1. Kyle Busch (18)

2. Martin Truex Jr. (19)

3. Ryan Blaney (12)

4. Aric Almirola (10)

5. Denny Hamlin (11)

6. Kyle Larson (42)

7. Kurt Busch (1)

8. Jimmie Johnson (48)

9. Kevin Harvick (4)

10. Joey Logano (22)

Full results available at NASCAR.com.

Busch earned his 199th career victory with his performance, cruising to the checkered flag in the final lap:

Retweet to congratulate Kyle Busch on his WEEKEND SWEEP in Phoenix! pic.twitter.com/yJSQjT5xd5

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 10, 2019

The hard work came earlier when he went by Ryan Blaney to get into the first position:

The winning pass? @KyleBusch moves past @Blaney late at @ISMRaceway! pic.twitter.com/1zzetaiIn5

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 10, 2019

While Blaney came in third, he and Busch were two of the best drivers on the track Sunday.

The No. 12 car won qualifying and began on the pole before controlling the early action in this race. He led the first 35 laps and stayed in the hunt until coming through with a Stage 1 victory, his second stage win of the season:

Stage 1 goes to Ryan Blaney! pic.twitter.com/5gyoDKaQee

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 10, 2019

The second stage was then owned by Busch, who led every single lap before crossing the finish line for an extra playoff point.

There was little action during this stretch, but strategy was also important:

#NASCAR ... Top 7 cars at the end of stage 2 were the ones that pitted during that caution shortly before Stage 1 and then stayed out during the Stage 1 break.

Good cars but also shows value of track position and strategy. See what happens in last stage.

— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) March 10, 2019

Busch's domination continued throughout the second half of the race, quickly taking back the lead from Jimmie Johnson after a pit stop.

More cautions led to a shake-up with about 90 laps left, with Aric Almirola moving toward the front and Daniel Hemric right behind him. Blaney then moved out in front with about 60 laps to go, but the big story was whether he could hold off Busch quickly climbing up the standings.

Though fuel was a bit of a concern, the No. 18 car flew past the competition before closing out an impressive win, continuing his incredible career across all levels of racing:

4 @nascar wins in the last ten days for @KyleBusch
Many of you struggle to include him among the greatest of all time.
I asssure you, over the next ten years he has the potential of building an undeniable argument of being the most talented wheelman any of us have ever seen 🏁

— Ricky Craven (@RickyCraven32) March 10, 2019

Kyle Busch goes back-to-back at ISM and sweeps the weekend. Win #52 in the Cup Series and 199 across all three NASCAR national series

— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) March 10, 2019

He will look to match Richard Petty with 200 wins next week. The schedule will keep the Monster Energy Cup series on the West Coast, with the Auto Club 400 set for Sunday in Fontana, California.

Martin Truex Jr. came on strong and had the best car down the stretch.

He just ran out of time.

Brad Keselowski took home the Folds of Honor 500 on Sunday, edging out a hard-charging Truex to win his first race of the 2019 NASCAR season and lock himself into the Chase.

Keselowski battled illness throughout the week and only led 33 of the race's 325 laps, persevering for his second career win in Atlanta. Truex finished 0.218 seconds behind, while Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five.

"I've got to give a lot to credit to my wife, she was sick just like I was, and she took great care of me along with everybody in the care center. I couldn't be here today without them," Keselowski told reporters.

Kyle Larson had the most dominant car for most of the afternoon, leading 142 laps. However, a costly speeding penalty on pit road wound up costing him a chance at the win. He finished 12th.

It was a similar story for pole-sitter Aric Almirola, who led 36 laps before speeding on pit road cost him field position. He finished eighth.

Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin battled through an up-and-down day for an 11th-place finish. Hamlin did not lead a lap and spent most of his afternoon out of contention.

A mostly clean race, there were only five cautions and no major contenders were involved in crashes. Every car in the field completed at least 200 laps, and Michael McDowell's No. 34 was the only one to finish at least 100 laps down.

The drivers will head to Las Vegas next week for the Pennzoil 400.