SONOMA, Calif. (AP) — Martin Truex, Jr. passed Chase Elliott for the lead after a final-stage restart on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway, and went on to hold off Kyle Busch on the 1.99-mile road course for his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season.
Elliott finished fifth in his return from a one-race suspension for deliberately wrecking Hamlin at Charlotte. The Dawsonville, Georgia native, who has missed seven races this season, twice held the lead in the final stage before Truex blew past him on fresher tires.
"It’s nice to get a top-five, no doubt, so proud of that," Elliott said. "We were trying to do something a little different with strategy. We had pit about six or eight laps there before that caution. We just felt like our only play was to stay out. I was really hoping that more people would do that with us so we’d have three or four rows. It still probably wouldn’t have been enough, but I do think it would have been nicer to have a couple more rows and a buffer for those with tires.
"It was certainly a good fight for the No. 9 NAPA Chevy team. It was one of our better runs there in the last couple of races, so always good to finish strong. It wasn’t an ideal situation, so to kind of fight through it there and come home with a top-five is good. Looking forward to build on that and hopefully contend for a win before long.”
Joey Logano was third behind Busch, with Chris Buescher in fourth.
Truex and Busch, who was 2.979 seconds behind in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, had the 11th 1-2 finish of their long Cup careers.
“Not too bad,” said Busch. “Just wish we had a little bit more. I was just trying to keep him honest there at the end.”
Truex appeared to be cruising toward victory before pole-sitter Denny Hamlin spun after he made contact with the wall with 19 laps to go. Hamlin's car slid sideways across the start-finish line.
Elliott led coming out of the caution with 15 laps left, but Truex surged up on fresh tires and reclaimed the lead for good.
Tyler Reddick started second in his bid to win for the fourth time in the Cup Series' last six road course races, but the Northern California-born driver steadily slipped down the standings. He got back up to second in the final stage before his pit stop, but he blew a tire with 14 laps left.
Defending champion Daniel Suárez also struggled to make headway after starting in ninth, ultimately finishing 22nd.
Hamlin led the first 32 laps from the pole before Truex passed him in the second stage. The race was caution-free until the 49th lap, when Busch took the lead by not pitting before Truex reclaimed it on fresh tires with 42 laps to go.
UP NEXT
After a one-week break, the Cup Series begins its 10-race sprint to the playoffs June 25 at Nashville Superspeedway.
