Truex Tricks the Field for Sonoma Win

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Toyota/Save Mart 350 from Sonoma Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Truex had a dominant car throughout the race and led 62 of 110 laps, but he had to use pit strategy to take the lead for the final time.

10 laps before making his final pit stop, Truex’s crew chief called him to pit road, but told him to stay out at the last second.  After hearing the call, Kevin Harvick pitted and was forced onto a different pit strategy.

Truex said he trusted crew chief Cole Pearn’s judgement.

“It’s all Cole,” Truex said.  “I’m cool with whatever he wants to do…a lot of trust in him.”

Once he had the lead, Truex was far enough ahead of Harvick that he was never challenged for the lead over the final 20-lap run.

Truex said he was worried a caution would come out in the closing laps and ruin their strategy.

“Honestly, all you’re doing is hoping that a caution doesn’t come out,” Truex said.  “Just hoping for no cautions and don’t make any mistakes.”

Harvick said he didn’t blame his team for calling him to pit road after they had been tricked by Truex.

“We all make mistakes…we all do things split-second that aren’t right after it all happens,” Harvick said.  “We had a shot today…and I was just too hard on the car the first couple stages.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Clint Bowyer

4. Chase Elliott

5. Kyle Busch

6. Kurt Busch

7. Erik Jones

8. Aric Almirola

9. Alex Bowman

10. Denny Hamlin

11. Jimmie Johnson

12. Chris Buescher

13. Brad Keselowski

14. Kyle Larson

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Austin Dillon

17. Matt DiBenedetto

18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

19. Joey Logano

20. Kasey Kahne

21. Michael McDowell

22. David Ragan

23. Parker Kligerman

24. Ryan Newman

25. William Byron

26. Paul Menard

27. Trevor Bayne

28. Justin Marks

29. Darrell Wallace Jr.

30. Gray Gaulding

31. Chris Cook

32. Tomy Drissi

33. Ty Dillon

34. Ryan Blaney

35. Cole Whitt

36. Cody Ware

37. Jamie McMurray

38. AJ Allmendinger

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Bowyer Wins Rain-Shortened Michigan Race

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Clint Bowyer won the rain-shortened FireKeepers Casino 400 from Michigan International Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Rain delayed the start of the race on Sunday by over two hours, and it threatened the track throughout the race.  The rain finally arrived and ended the race on lap 133 of 200 while Bowyer was out front.

Daniel Shirley/Getty Images

Bowyer’s team used pit strategy to get to the front, taking only two tires on the final pit stop while the rest of the field took four tires.

Bowyer said he was nervous when he was the only driver to take two tires.

“When he said two tires…I don’t know,” Bowyer said.  “Especially when I looked in the mirror and everyone else took four.  When you come out that far ahead of everybody else, you know you’re on a mission for a gamble.”

On the final restart, Bowyer had to hold off his teammate Kevin Harvick, who had led the most laps throughout the race.  Bowyer said he knew holding off Harvick would be a challenge.

“Being on the same tires with Kevin on a restart, you know what you’re up against,” Bowyer said.  “He was so much faster than me in 1 and 2.  I got down to 3 and 4 and I had to chop him off and take his line away.”

Harvick said he was surprised Bowyer’s car was so fast with just two fresh tires.

“Clint had a good restart,” Harvick said.  “I hadn’t restarted against a car that was as good as his and just a foot from clearing him there.”

“If you’re going to lose one in the rain and give it away, you might want to give it to your teammate.”

Unofficial results:

1. Clint Bowyer

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Kurt Busch

4. Kyle Busch

5. Paul Menard

6. Brad Keselowski

7. Joey Logano

8. Ryan Blaney

9. Chase Elliott

10. Jamie McMurray

11. Aric Almirola

12. Denny Hamlin

13. William Byron

14. Austin Dillon

15. Erik Jones

16. Alex Bowman

17. AJ Allmendinger

18. Martin Truex Jr.

19. Darrell Wallace Jr.

20. Jimmie Johnson

21. Ty Dillon

22. Ryan Newman

23. Kasey Kahne

24. Chris Buescher

25. Michael McDowell

26. Ross Chastain

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Kyle Larson

29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

30. Daniel Suarez

31. Gray Gaulding

32. Landon Cassill

33. Matt Kenseth

34. DJ Kennington

35. Timmy Hill

36. Matt DiBenedetto

37. BJ McLeod

38. David Ragan

39. Garrett Smithley

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 6/6/2018

All the comics available this week can be found on ComicList, and any comic book news is on CBR.

BOOM! Studios
Go Go Power Rangers #10

Marvel
Ben Reilly the Scarlet Spider #19
Deadpool #1
Star Wars #49

Truex Wins at the Tricky Triangle

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Pocono 400 from Pocono Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Truex had a strong car and ran up front for most of the day.  After winning Stage 1, a pit road miscue forced him to restart in the back of the pack.

Bryan Nicodemus

Truex was able to work his way through the field throughout the second segment, and took the lead away from Kevin Harvick in the final segment.

After staying out on a late pit stop, Truex took the lead and had to hold off Harvick, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch over multiple late-race restarts.

Truex’s crew chief Cole Pearn said there was some concern when most of the field pitted under the late caution.

“When only four of us stayed out, it was a little bit more of a concern at that point,” Pearn said.  “In practice we were able to re-fire really well on older tires…that kind of gave us some optimism at least.”

11 of the first 14 races this season have been won by Truex, Busch and Harvick, and Truex said he was excited to beat the best drivers for the victory at Pocono.

“It’s always fun to win, but especially when you beat the best guys out there,” Truex said.  “Once we got in clean air, this thing was a rocket ship.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Kyle Larson

3. Kyle Busch

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Ryan Blaney

7. Aric Almirola

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Joey Logano

10. Chase Elliott

11. Paul Menard

12. Austin Dillon

13. Matt Kenseth

14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

15. Jamie McMurray

16. David Ragan

17. Chris Buescher

18. William Byron

19. Kurt Busch

20. Clint Bowyer

21. Michael McDowell

22. AJ Allmendinger

23. Ty Dillon

24. Daniel Suarez

25. Ryan Newman

26. Cole Custer

27. Alex Bowman

28. Ross Chastain

29. Erik Jones

30. Cole Whitt

31. Landon Cassill

32. JJ Yeley

33. Gray Gaulding

34. Derrike Cope

35. Denny Hamlin

36. Kasey Kahne

37. Matt DiBenedetto

38. Darrell Wallace Jr.

Sarah Crabill/Getty Images