Truex leads the Toyota charge in the Motor City
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NASCAR
Truex leads the Toyota charge in the Motor City
Martin Truex Jr. led the Toyota contingent in Monday’s rain-delayed Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event at Michigan International Speedway.
Truex started 16th but did not stay there for long as he climbed through the field to earn stage points at the conclusions of Stage 1 and Stage 2. The final stage was a pit strategy battle, but Truex’s crew chief, Cole Pearn, made the right call, getting his driver up to second following a round of green-flag pit stops. After his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones suffered a flat tire and spun, had one final chance to take the lead during a green-white-checkered restart, however, he started from the bottom line and was unable to make the pass, finishing in third.
“(Joey Logano) was just really fast. I don’t know if we could have done anything with him,” said Truex. “We were going to need one heck of a push from behind – a shove down the straightaway. I could get a little bit of a run, but never enough to get next to him and surely not enough to get next to him and clear him getting in the corner.”
Kyle Busch crossed the finish line in fifth to earn a series-leading ninth top-five finish of the season. Denny Hamlin finished just outside of the top ten in 11th.
The Cup Series will take the weekend off before heading to Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, June 23.