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NASCAR: 2018 Pocono 400 Winner Spotlight – Martin Truex Jr. victorious

By Mark Kristl

LONG POND, PA - JUNE 03: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 3, 2018 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
LONG POND, PA - JUNE 03: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 3, 2018 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) /
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Martin Truex Jr. won the Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway. His second NASCAR Cup Series victory this season lifts him into the championship conversation.

Entering the Pocono 400, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick had won nine of the 13 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races so far this season. While those two drivers have dominated the Cup Series, defending champion Martin Truex Jr. is always a threat.

Truex Jr.’s victory in the Pocono 400 asserted his name into the championship conversation. He clinched a playoff berth already with his win at Auto Club Speedway, and he came into Pocono Raceway fifth in points.. With this victory after he bested the dominant car of Kevin Harvick and the newer tires on Kyle Busch’s car, he remains a contender.

To begin the weekend, Truex Jr. qualified fourth for the race, which made it evident that his #78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota had speed. He took the lead on lap 44 and subsequently won the first stage. He slipped to 4th place at the end of the second stage.

The final stage went green for 20 laps, which is 50 miles at the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway, before Derrike Cope spun after making contact with Kyle Larson. After everyone pitted, Busch took over the lead at the restart. Yet 11 laps later, the caution flag flew once again for a large piece of debris.

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This caution led to varying pit strategies. Everyone aside of Truex Jr., Harvick, Larson, and Chase Elliott came into the pits. Truex Jr. never looked back. He benefited from two later caution flag periods, which decreased the number of remaining green flag laps.

Specifically, Larson, Harvick and Busch were the biggest challengers for the lead. Harvick was the dominant driver for most of the race, as he led 89 laps and won the second stage. Busch won the Xfinity Series race at Pocono the previous day, and four fresh tires gave him a fast #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Larson ended up finishing the race in second place.

Unfortunately for Busch and Harvick, the race restarted with seven laps to go. As they battled for positions, Truex Jr. enjoyed the clean air and drove his #78 Toyota all the way to victory lane. Busch finished in third place and Harvick finished in fourth.

For Truex Jr., the win was his second victory of the season, and he now sits fourth in the championship standings. Most importantly, he has the third highest playoff point total. At the moment, his playoff point total makes him one of the favorites to advance to Homestead-Miami Speedway as one of the drivers in the Championship 4, where the highest finisher of the remaining four playoff drivers will win the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

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The next race for the NASCAR Cup Series is the Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Last season, Martin Truex Jr. finished in sixth place in this race after he won the first two stages. He will look to capture a victory at the track this Sunday, June 10. Viewers can catch the live broadcast of the race on Fox at 2:00 p.m. ET.

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