Truex wins dramatic fuel-mileage race at Watkins Glen

As cars ran out of gas around the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota, Truex conserved fuel over the final 25 laps for his fourth win of the season and his first victory at the Glen. 

Truex led a race-high 24 laps and took the lead from Ryan Blaney for the last time on Lap 88. His advantage was .414-seconds over Matt Kenseth coming to the finish line. 

“I can’t believe that, it was so stressful,” Truex said. “I never had to let guys go for the lead. I’ve always wanted to win here, it’s a special place. This is a big one for the team.”  

Rookie Daniel Suarez finished third followed by Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Blaney, AJ Allmendinger and Erik Jones.

Truex took the lead from Suarez out of Turn 1 when the race returned to green on Lap 44. Kenseth, Blaney, Jones, Hamlin, Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Allmendinger rounded out the top 10.  

Entering the outer loop, Kyle Busch made contact with Keselowski and went off the course. Keselowski dropped to 33rd, Busch to 34th. The No. 18 team brought Busch in for tires. 

Blaney passed Suarez for second on Lap 45, Kenseth, Hamlin, Jones, Kurt Busch, Allmendinger, Larson and Kahne rounded out the top 10. 

By Lap 48, Truex’s lead was 3.1-seconds over Blaney. The No. 78 Furniture Row  Racing Toyota extended his advantage to 4.2-seconds on Lap 49. Blaney, Suarez, Kenseth, Hamlin, Jones, Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Larson and Kahne completed the top 10 as Keselowski pitted for tires.  Jones passed Hamlin for fifth on Lap 50. 

On Lap 51, NASCAR called a caution after Landon Cassill cut a left front tire. Truex’s lead was 5.6-seconds over Blaney. Suarez, Kenseth, Jones, Hamlin, Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Larson, Kahne, Clint Bowyer, Logano, Johnson, Elliott and McDowell rounded out the top 15. 

The leaders pitted on Lap 53. Keselowski remained on the track and assumed the lead. Bowyer, and McMurray took fuel only and advanced to second and third, respectively.  Blaney, Truex, Buescher, Suarez, Kenseth, Elliott, Kurt Busch, Johnson, Austin Dillon, Danica Patrick, Hamlin and Kahne rounded out the top 15.  

Kevin Harvick’s front end was destroyed when he exited his pit and was nailed by Brett Moffitt. He restarted 32nd. After completing the first lap, Danica Patrick spun off the track with an assist by Kyle Busch. She was running 16th. 

Bowyer passed McMurray for second on Lap 59. Keselowski was able to move out to a .763-second advantage — his largest since taking the point. On fresh tires, Truex easily passed McMurray for third. Blaney, Kenseth, Suarez, Elliott and Buescher completed the top 10 coming to Lap 60. Truex blew past Bowyer entering the bus stop for second-place. Blaney passed McMurray for fourth. 

Truex reeled Keselowski in on Lap 63. The No. 78 car moved to the inside of the No. 2 Ford entering Turn 7 for the lead on Lap 64. Keselowski held onto second followed by Bowyer, Blaney, Kenseth, McMurray, Suarez, Elliott, Kyle Busch and Chris Buescher. 

With 25 laps remaining, Kurt Busch ran 11th with Hamlin, Kahne, Johnson and Allmendinger in tow. Jones, McDowell, Lognao, Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon rounded out the top 20. 

Suarez nudged McMurray off the track on take sixth on Lap 68. Larson pitted on the same circuit. He dropped to 32nd. 

Truex extended his lead over Keselowski by 1.6-seconds with 20 laps to go. Bowyer was third followed by Blaney, Kenseth, Suarez, McMurray, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Kahne,  Buescher, Jones and Allmendinger. Hamlin passed Kurt Busch for 10th on the next lap.

Logano pitted with 15 laps remaining. Truex held a 1.5-second lead over Keselowski. Blaney passed Bowyer for third as the No. 15 Ford was saving fuel. Keselowski went wide open to the inside of Truex in the bus stop with 14 laps to go. The No. 78 also went into fuel conservation mode. 

With 10 laps to decide the race, Keselowski held onto a 2.4-second lead over Truex who begged the team to let him go harder. Blaney was third followed by Bowyer, Kenseth and Suarez. Kyle Busch passed McMurray for seventh entering Turn 1. Elliott, Hamlin, Kahne, Kurt Busch, Jones, Allmendinger and Buescher rounded out the top 15. 

Elliott pitted from ninth on Lap 81. His Hendrick teammate Kahne also came in. With eight laps to go, Blaney passed Truex for second. Bowyer was fourth, Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Suarez, McMurray, Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Jones, Allmendinger, Buescher, McDowell and Johnson rounded out the top 15. 

Kyle Busch moved passed Kenseth and Bowyer on Lap 84 for fourth-place. He pitted on Lap 85 for a splash-n-go. Keselowski held the point by 5.8-seconds over Blaney, Truex, Bowyer, Kenseth, Suarez, McMurray, Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10. 

McMurray pitted on Lap 86. Newman joined him. Keselowski gave up the lead to Blaney on Lap 87. Keselowski received a pass-thru penalty for crossing too many pit boxes on exit. Blaney pit on Lap 88 and handed over the lead to Truex. 

Truex held the point coming to the white flag by 1.1-seconds over Kenseth. Suarez, Hamlin and Bowyer followed.  

“I’m a little bit lost for words at the moment just because I’ve been thinking about this one (girlfriend Sherry Pollex) a long time – all weekend, all day,” Truex said.

“Then, at the end there just it’s so hard there to let guys pass you for the lead. You’ve just got to listen to your crew chief and luckily for me I’ve got the best one in the business and I just believe in him so much and I just do what he says and it seems to work out. I’ve just got to thank him (Cole Pearn, crew chief). It’s been a tough week for him and thinking about his buddies parents and family ... I guess this is our time. Just can’t say enough about all of these guys and what they allowed me to do. I’m having the time of my life, that’s all I can tell you.”

Truex extended his lead by 116-points over Kyle Busch, who finished seventh.

Click on the images to see post race coverage of Martin Truex Jr. and his win and also comments from crew chief Cole Pearn:

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Laps Led
1	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	90	2:06'57	24
2	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	90	0.414
3	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	90	5.115	14
4	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	90	13.989
5	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	90	14.176
6	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	90	14.966
7	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	90	17.014	21
8	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	90	20.770	2
9	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	90	21.505
10	77	Erik Jones	Toyota	90	22.694
11	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	90	23.442
12	95	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	90	24.278
13	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	90	25.776	9
14	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	90	27.946
15	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	90	29.455	20
16	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	90	30.795
17	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	90	31.306
18	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	90	31.435
19	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	90	32.178
20	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	90	32.357
21	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	90	33.146
22	10	Danica Patrick	Ford	90	33.350
23	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	90	36.601
24	22	Joey Logano	Ford	90	40.923
25	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	90	52.417
26	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	90	66.064
27	38	David Ragan	Ford	90	80.083
28	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	90	90.666
29	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	90	91.328
30	33	Boris Said	Chevrolet	89	1 lap
31	15	Gary Klutt	Chevrolet	89	1 lap
32	83	Brett Moffitt	Toyota	89	1 lap
33	23	Corey Lajoie	Toyota	89	1 lap
34	72	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	81	9 laps
35	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	80	9 laps
36	34	Landon Cassill	Ford	78	12 laps
37	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	22	68 laps