Martin Truex Jr. wins NASCAR Cup race at Sonoma after brilliant strategy call

SONOMA, Calif. — Highlights of Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway — the first road-course race of the season:

WINNER: Martin Truex Jr., relying on excellent pit strategy from his crew chief, won the race in a breeze, finishing 10.51 seconds in front of Kevin Harvick.

Truex recorded his third win of the season and the second of his career at Sonoma Raceway.

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, who was leading at the time, 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.

"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 awesone day. Pretty cool to win here again at Sonoma."

Clint Bowyer was third, followed by Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch.

FITS AND THE PITS: Truex took the race lead from Harvick with 20 laps to go. Earlier, the Truex team had pretended it was readying for a pit stop, prompting his main challengers, Harvick and Bowyer, to pit. Truex stayed on the track, pitted seven laps later and ran in the final stage with fresher tires.

LARSON LAGS: Kyle Larson won the pole for the race with a speed of 94.597 miles per hour, but he struggled in the race, running from 12th to 20th much of the afternoon. He expressed frustration on his team radio that he was using his tires as planned but wasn’t making significant gains.

STAGE TWO: 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.

McMURRAY PARKS: An oil pump issue forced Jamie McMurray to the garage on lap 33. Team members worked on the car for a few minutes but decided not to try to return to the track.

DINGER SIDELINED: Only a few laps after winning the race’s first stage, AJ Allmendinger, one of the series’ best road racers, left the race with a blown engine. His car stalled on the track, producing the second caution period of the day. Allmendinger admitted missing a shift and causing the issue.

“I haven’t missed a shift in probably 10 years on a road course,” Allmendinger said. “The best gear boxes I have had since I’ve ever been here. Just trying to be patient back there and set up each move. … Believe me, when it happened I was in a lot of disbelief and shock. I wasn’t ready for it and let everybody down on this race team.”

STAGE ONE: Allmendinger stayed on the track throughout the 25-lap first stage and led at the end of the run. Other top drivers, including Truex, Harvick and Kyle Busch, pitted several laps before the end of the stage. Finishing behind Allmendinger in the top 10 were Keselowski, Johnson, Elliott, Larson, Newman, Almirola, Daniel Suarez, Buescher and Kasey Kahne.

TOYOTA/SAVE MART 350 RESULTS

Sunday from the 1.99-mile Sonoma Raceway (starting position in parentheses):

1. (2) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 110 laps, 40 points.

2. (6) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 1135.

3. (19) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 110, 34.

4. (3) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 110, 49.

5. (9) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 110, 32.

6. (23) Kurt Busch, Ford, 110, 31.

7. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota, 110, 30.

8. (24) Aric Almirola, Ford, 110, 38.

9. (17) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 110, 32.

10. (21) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 110, 37.

11. (7) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 110, 42.

12. (25) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 110, 29.

13. (10) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 110, 40.

14. (1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 110, 29.

15. (16) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 110, 25.

16. (27) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 110, 21.

17. (30) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 110, 20.

18. (18) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 110, 19.

19. (12) Joey Logano, Ford, 110, 18.

20. (26) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 110, 18.

21. (22) Michael McDowell, Ford, 110, 19.

22. (28) David Ragan, Ford, 109, 15.

23. (34) Parker Kligerman, Toyota, 109, 0.

24. (14) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 109, 19.

25. (8) William Byron, Chevrolet, 109, 12.

26. (15) Paul Menard, Ford, 109, 11.

27. (13) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 109, 10.

28. (33) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, 109, 0.

29. (35) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 109, 8.

30. (29) Gray Gaulding, Toyota, 109, 7.

31. (36) Chris Cook, Chevrolet, 109, 6.

32. (37) Tomy Drissi, Chevrolet, 108, 5.

33. (31) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 106, 4.

34. (11) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 104, 9.

35. (32) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, accident, 57, 2.

36. (38) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, fuelpump, 42, 1.

37. (4) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, garage, 33, 1.

38. (5) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, engine, 33, 11.

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Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 82.882 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 38 minutes, 28 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 10.513 seconds.

Caution Flags: 3 for 8 laps.

Lead Changes: 11 among 7 drivers.

Lap Leaders: K.Larson 1-2; M.Truex 3-22; A.Allmendinger 23-27; M.Truex 28-41; K.Harvick 42-47; D.Hamlin 48-51; K.Harvick 52-72; M.Truex 73-80; Ku.Busch 81; E.Jones 82; K.Harvick 83-90; M.Truex 91-110

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): M.Truex, 4 times for 62 laps; K.Harvick, 3 times for 35 laps; A.Allmendinger, 1 time for 5 laps; D.Hamlin, 1 time for 4 laps; K.Larson, 1 time for 2 laps; E.Jones, 1 time for 1 lap; K.Busch 1 time for 1 lap.