{"id":19698,"date":"2018-06-24T18:30:55","date_gmt":"2018-06-24T23:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=19698"},"modified":"2018-06-26T15:06:51","modified_gmt":"2018-06-26T20:06:51","slug":"canny-bluff-propels-martin-truex-jr-to-victory-at-sonoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/24\/canny-bluff-propels-martin-truex-jr-to-victory-at-sonoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Canny bluff propels Martin Truex Jr. to victory at Sonoma"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 5-hour ENERGY\/Bass Pro Shops Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota\/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 24, 2018 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

SONOMA, Calif. \u2013 Using a contrarian strategy that included bluffing Kevin Harvick<\/strong> onto pit road earlier than planned in the final stage of Sunday\u2019s Toyota\/Save Mart 350<\/strong>, Martin Truex Jr.<\/strong> pulled off a convincing victory in the 16th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series<\/a> race of the season.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 5-hour ENERGY\/Bass Pro Shops Toyota, crosses the finish line to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota\/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 24, 2018 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

On Lap 73, during the final stage of the race, Truex\u2019s crew chief, Cole Pearn, ordered the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota to pit road. On the spur of the moment, Harvick\u2019s crew chief, Rodney Childers, opted to cover Truex\u2019s move and called the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to the pits from the lead.<\/p>\n

But Pearn, by design, called off the pit stop at the last second, and Truex picked up the lead, which he surrendered on Lap 81 when he pitted for the only time during the final stage. Harvick and teammate Clint Bowyer returned to pit road on Lap 92 of 110, and when that happened, Truex held a 23.826-second lead over Chase Elliott in second.<\/p>\n

All Truex had to do the rest of the way was avoid a caution in the final 18 laps \u2013 a situation that was realized as the final stage ran green from a Lap 55 restart to the finish.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 5-hour ENERGY\/Bass Pro Shops Toyota, celebrates in victory lane by placing the winner’s sticker on his car after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota\/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 24, 2018 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAll you\u2019re doing is begging, hoping the caution doesn\u2019t come out,\u201d Truex said of the end of the race. \u201cThen you\u2019d have to pit, and you don\u2019t know what could happen. It messes the field up. Just hoping for no cautions and don\u2019t make any mistakes and hope the engine stays together.\u201d<\/p>\n

In winning for the third time this season, Truex led 62 laps, including the last 20 after he passed Harvick to retake the lead on Lap 91. The victory was Truex\u2019s second at Sonoma and the 18th of his career. With his first win coming in 2013, Truex\u2019s triumph also broke a streak of nine straight different winners at the 1.99-mile road course.<\/p>\n

Pearn said the single stop in the final stage was the plan all along, even if Harvick\u2019s car hadn\u2019t been snookered into the pits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew we were going to do one stop \u2013 that was kind of our plan,\u201d Pearn acknowledged. \u201cWe just really needed them to pit earlier for it to work out. It was a bit of a gamble, but obviously, it paid off. It worked out great. It\u2019s tough. Everybody is so good in this (series) that sometimes you have to do something different to pull one out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 5-hour ENERGY\/Bass Pro Shops Toyota, races during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota\/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 24, 2018 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Harvick was philosophical about the call that in all probability cost him the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all make mistakes,\u201d Harvick said. \u201cWe all do things split-second that might be right after it all happens. But these guys do a great job. Everyone on our Mobil1 Ford has done a great job for the last five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a shot today. The call was one thing, but I think I was too hard on the car the first couple of stages. The brake pedal was long after qualifying and never really came around during the race. It progressively got worse, and I kept losing drive about Lap 20 off of (Turn) 3 and was getting tight off of 4. I had a lot of problems I needed to work on, but all of our guys do a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Driving conservatively with a massive lead over the final 10 laps, Truex crossed the finish line 10.513 seconds ahead of Harvick, who passed Elliott for the second spot on Lap 102. Two laps later, Bowyer got by Elliott to finish third.<\/p>\n

Posting his first career top-five result on a road course, Elliott held fourth, one spot ahead of charging Kyle Busch, who retained the series lead by 72 points over Harvick. Kurt Busch, Erik Jones, Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin completed the top 10.<\/p>\n

Media Center Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Race winner Martin Truex Jr. – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SR_MENCS_Truexjr_062418.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Race winning team owner Barney Visser, President Joe Garone and Crew Chief Cole Pearn – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SR_MENCS_Visser_Garone_Pearn_062418.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SR_MENCS_Bowyer_Harvick_062418.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grand Marshal – Jonny Marshal – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SR_MENCS_Moseley_062418.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race – Toyota \/ Save Mart 350<\/b><\/p>\n

Sonoma Raceway<\/b><\/p>\n

Sonoma, California<\/b><\/p>\n

Sunday, June 24, 2018<\/b><\/p>\n

               1. (2) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 110.<\/p>\n

               2. (6) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 110.<\/p>\n

               3. (19) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 110.<\/p>\n

               4. (3) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 110.<\/p>\n

               5. (9) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 110.<\/p>\n

               6. (23) Kurt Busch, Ford, 110.<\/p>\n

               7. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota, 110.<\/p>\n

               8. (24) Aric Almirola, Ford, 110.<\/p>\n

               9. (17) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 110.<\/p>\n

               10. (21) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 110.<\/p>\n

               11. (7) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 110.<\/p>\n

               12. (25) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 110.<\/p>\n

               13. (10) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 110.<\/p>\n

               14. (1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 110.<\/p>\n

               15. (16) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 110.<\/p>\n

               16. (27) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 110.<\/p>\n

               17. (30) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 110.<\/p>\n

               18. (18) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 110.<\/p>\n

               19. (12) Joey Logano, Ford, 110.<\/p>\n

               20. (26) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 110.<\/p>\n

               21. (22) Michael McDowell, Ford, 110.<\/p>\n

               22. (28) David Ragan, Ford, 109.<\/p>\n

               23. (34) * Parker Kligerman(i), Toyota, 109.<\/p>\n

               24. (14) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 109.<\/p>\n

               25. (8) William Byron #, Chevrolet, 109.<\/p>\n

               26. (15) Paul Menard, Ford, 109.<\/p>\n

               27. (13) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 109.<\/p>\n

               28. (33) Justin Marks(i), Chevrolet, 109.<\/p>\n

               29. (35) Bubba Wallace #, Chevrolet, 109.<\/p>\n

               30. (29) Gray Gaulding, Toyota, 109.<\/p>\n

               31. (36) Chris Cook, Ford, 109.<\/p>\n

               32. (37) Tomy Drissi, Chevrolet, 108.<\/p>\n

               33. (31) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 106.<\/p>\n

               34. (11) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 104.<\/p>\n

               35. (32) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, Accident, 57.<\/p>\n

               36. (38) * Cody Ware, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 42.<\/p>\n

               37. (4) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, Oil Pump, 33.<\/p>\n

               38. (5) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Engine, 33.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  82.882 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 38 Mins, 28 Secs. Margin of Victory:  10.513 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  3 for 8 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  11 among 7 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   K. Larson 1-2; M. Truex Jr. 3-22; A. Allmendinger 23-27; M. Truex Jr. 28-41; K. Harvick 42-47; D. Hamlin 48-51; K. Harvick 52-72; M. Truex Jr. 73-80; Kurt Busch 81; E. Jones 82; K. Harvick 83-90; M. Truex Jr. 91-110.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  M. Truex Jr. 4 times for 62 laps; K. Harvick 3 times for 35 laps; A. Allmendinger 1 time for 5 laps; D. Hamlin 1 time for 4 laps; K. Larson 1 time for 2 laps; E. Jones 1 time for 1 lap; Kurt Busch 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 47,2,48,9,42,31,10,19,37,95<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,9,48,2,12,10,88,34,37,31<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif. \u2013 Using a contrarian strategy that included bluffing Kevin Harvick onto pit road earlier than planned in the final stage of Sunday\u2019s Toyota\/Save Mart 350, Martin Truex Jr. pulled off a convincing victory in the 16th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season. On Lap […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[244,16,455,618],"class_list":["post-19698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-martin-truex-jr","tag-nascar","tag-sonoma-raceway","tag-toyota-savemart-350"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/356416-e1530042989590.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-57I","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19698"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19724,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19698\/revisions\/19724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}