Clever Strategy Gets Truex a Win at Sonoma

Ben Margot/AP Photo

SONOMA, CA – RIS – It was a clever ploy.  With Kevin Harvick ahead and Martin Truex, Jr. falling behind, Truex's crew chief Cole Pearn pretended to call Truex to the pits with a little less than 40 laps to go in the final stage, prompting Harvick to hit pit road. But Pearn then quickly told Truex to stay out, a move that resulted in Truex being able to use fresher tires later in the stage to blow past the leaders and open a huge lead.  Harvick cut nearly ten seconds off the lead, but it was too little, too late.  Truex got his third win of 2018 and Harvick finished second.

"It's all Cole. That was amazing," Truex said of the strategy. "I'm cool with whatever he wants to do. I tell him all the time, 'Win, lose or draw, we do it together.' I've got a lot of trust in him. I don't even say anything; I just do what he wants me to do.

"This was an awesome day. Pretty cool to win here again at Sonoma."

Harvick’s teammate, Clint Bowyer, finished third and Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch rounded out the top ten.

"The last 10 laps of the race were easy," Truex said. "A little stressful. I was just hoping for no cautions, because I had a big lead. This place is so tricky and so technical, but when you start to take care of your equipment and have time to think, it's almost harder. You can overshoot a corner easily."

Harvick said crew chief Rodney Childers apologized to him after the race for being fooled by Pearn. 

“I told him that everybody makes mistakes.  You can’t be perfect all the time. Harvick wasn't angry about the pit strategy that probably decided the race. "The call was one thing, but I think I was too hard on the car the first couple of stages," Harvick said. "The brake pedal was long after qualifying and never really came around during the race. It progressively got worse."

Harvick still gained on Truex throughout the final 20 laps.

A.J. Allmendinger won the first stage by staying on the track while all the leaders were pitting.  He restarted in 16th place for the restart, but was soon out of the race with a blown engine after missing a shift.

“I haven’t missed a shift on a road course in probably 10 years,” Allmendinger said. 

Denny Hamlin, seeking his first win of the year, finished first in the second stage. Following in order were Elliott, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman, Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher and Ryan Newman. Race leaders Harvick and Truex had pitted before the caution flew for the stage end.

Truex lead the most laps (62) with Harvick leading second most (35).  There were five other leaders including Allmendinger and Hamlin, the stage winners. 

The Cup drivers next head to Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, for the next race on September 1st.

Unofficial Race Results for the 30th Annual Toyota/Save Mart 350 - Sonoma Raceway - Sonoma, CA - Sunday, June 24, 2018

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 2, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 5-hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 110, , , 4, 62, 5, 40, Running
2) 6, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 110, , , 3, 35, , 35, Running
3) 19, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 One Cure Ford, 110, , , , , , 34, Running
4) 3, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 110, 4, 2, , , , 49, Running
5) 9, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Caramel Toyota, 110, , , , , , 32, Running
6) 23, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation Ford, 110, , , 1, 1, , 31, Running
7) 20, Erik Jones, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota, 110, , , 1, 1, , 30, Running
8) 24, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 110, 7, 6, , , , 38, Running
9) 17, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, 110, , 7, , , , 32, Running
10) 21, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 110, , 1, 1, 4, 1, 37, Running
11) 7, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, 110, 3, 3, , , , 42, Running
12) 25, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Maxwell House Max Chevrolet, 110, 9, 9, , , , 29, Running
13) 10, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 110, 2, 4, , , , 40, Running
14) 1, Kyle Larson, No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet, 110, 5, , 1, 2, , 29, Running
15) 16, Daniel Suarez, No. 19 STANLEY Toyota, 110, 8, , , , , 25, Running
16) 27, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Chevrolet, 110, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 30, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 The Hartford Gold Group Ford, 110, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 18, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 110, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 12, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 110, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 26, Kasey Kahne, No. 95 Procore Chevrolet, 110, 10, , , , , 18, Running
21) 22, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops/Roller Bites Ford, 110, , 8, , , , 19, Running
22) 28, David Ragan, No. 38 1000Bulbs.com Ford, 109, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 34, * Parker Kligerman(i), No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota, 109, , , , , , 0, Running
24) 14, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Grainger/American Red Cross Chevrolet, 109, 6, 10, , , , 19, Running
25) 8, William Byron #, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 109, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 15, Paul Menard, No. 21 Menards/Richmond Ford, 109, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 13, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Rehydrate Ford, 109, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 33, Justin Marks(i), No. 15 SUFFERFEST Beer Company Chevrolet, 109, , , , , , 0, Running
29) 35, Bubba Wallace #, No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet, 109, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 29, Gray Gaulding, No. 23 Earthwater Toyota, 109, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 36, Chris Cook, No. 51 Shockwave Ford, 109, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 37, Tomy Drissi, No. 00 Go Share Chevrolet, 108, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 31, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 106, , , , , , 4, Running
34) 11, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 PPG Ford, 104, , 5, , , , 9, Running
35) 32, Cole Whitt, No. 72  Chevrolet, 57, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 38, * Cody Ware, No. 52 SBC Contractors/Bubba Burger Chevrolet, 42, , , , , , 1, Fuel Pump
37) 4, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet, 33, , , , , , 1, Oil Pump
38) 5, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 33, 1, , 1, 5, 1, 11, Engine
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) Non-charter team

Total Race Length - 110 Laps - 218.9 Miles -1.99 Mile Road

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 38 Mins, 28 Secs.

Average Speed: 82.882 MPH

Margin of Victory: 10.513 Seconds

Caution Flags: 3 for 8 laps: Laps: 27-29 (Stage 1 Conclusion [52])
35-36 (No. 47 Stalled on track [None])
52-54 (Stage 2 Conclusion [52]).

Lead Changes: 11 among 7 drivers: 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.

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2018, Issue 6, Posted 8:29 PM, 06.24.2018