Martin Truex Jr. posing with his beautiful winners trophy in victory lane at Chicagoland Speedway. [Kim Kemperman Photo]
Joliet, IL – A late race caution was all that stood between young Chase Elliott and a win in his first, aptly-named, Sprint Cup Chase race; well, that and a sprint to the front in an overtime shoot-out win by Martin Truex Jr. at the Chicagoland Speedway.
Truex, who was among a group of Chase drivers who incurred a variety of problems during the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400, came back from a lap down due to a flat tire that deprived the second-generation Elliott of the win, given that he was likely the most consistent of the 16 Chasers.
Elliott, Truex and several others leaders pitted after Michael McDowell’s car shredded a Goodyear in turn four on lap 263 and left a wide field of debris. Truex’ Furniture Row Toyota crew got him out first with Elliott’s NAPA Chevrolet trailing, but, with nothing to lose, Ryan Blaney and several others stayed out to join the tightly bunched restart up front, ahead of the leaders, but without fresh tires.
“We knew that Blaney and the others hadn’t pitted and were on old tires. I saw that he spun them when we got the green flag,” said Truex who led 30 laps early on, but had gone a lap down and now had just two “overtime” laps to get to the front from his outside second row spot for a 0.776- second win. “I got outside in turns 1-2 and found some clean air and was gone.”
Joey Logano burst from the trailing pack to follow Truex home, with Elliott and Blaney left to fight for third and fourth.
“That final pit stop was really the definition of pressure for the crew with the caution out, explained the Penske Ford driver. “It got us out ahead of Hamlin, Kahne, Edwards and the others. Second place gives us a decent (points) cushion for the next couple races.”
Third-place wasn’t exactly what Elliott had in his sights after giving up a strong lead when he pitted with Truex and came out behind. “We see late cautions way more often than not; we’ve got to be ready for it,” noted Elliott, whose crew took just enough time that it put him behind Truex. “I hate to be so close and not finish off. We have to learn from situations like this. You can’t control the caution flag-it’s part of life and racing.”
Chase drivers dominated much of the race with Jimmie Johnson having led 118 laps before a speeding on pit road penalty, coupled with a “super loose” Hendrick Chevy, doomed him to a 12th-place result. Issues for Hamlin (debris on his grill and a lug nut in his cowl), pole-winner Kyle Busch (speeding), Kyle Larson (deflating tire) and Harvick (several pit stop gaffs and a penalty) took away any chance for a win.
Truex’ win was his third this season and the sixth of his career as Chase drivers dominated the results, capturing 13 of the top 16 finishing positions. Blaney (4th) and Kasey Kahne (7th) were the exception along with rookie Alex Bowman who, subbing for a recovering Dale Earnhart, wound up tenth.
Kentucky and Dover are next in this three-race Round One of the Chase. Four drivers will be eliminated after this round.
“When we had to pit off-sequence early (lap 69), I thought that bad luck had bit us again. I’m glad the tire problem happened early. There was a long way to go,” said the winner, who noted that the victory belonged to his crew. “That was a great last stop that got us out ahead of Chase. This was the way we wanted to start. You don’t give up; you just keep digging.”
And if he keeps digging like this in the next nine races, he just might bury the competition. They’d better watch out.
NOTES:
- Chase contenders Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson were busted for speeding during late-race pit stops.
- The last time a non-Chase driver won a Chase race was 2013 when Kevin Harvick won at Homestead.
- Kyle Larson (changed transmission), Aric Almirola and Kevin Harvick (body modifications) were penalized by NASCAR’s pre-race inspection and had to start at the rear of the field.
- NASCAR has changed the number of pit road gradients that measure driver’s speed. There are now 18 sections to more closely monitor speeds.
- Do you think that Jamie McMurray got his ride because his car is sponsored by McDonalds? Sorry, I just never thought about that. (You know, Mc and Mc).
- It was nice to see a near-sellout crowd for Sunday’s Chicagoland Chase after slim turnouts for ARCA, Camping World Trucks and XFINITY events earlier in the weekend.
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