He had started things with a dominant, record-setting win at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend.
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Truex pulled to the inside wall to greet his crew, then took off for some celebration donuts at “The Track Too Tough To Tame”.
Truex stamped himself as a contender to be reckoned with when the Sprint Cup playoffs start in two weeks.
“We’re hungry. We’re working hard”, Truex said.
Two poor pit stops cost Harvick track position with the second one – from a possible air wrench malfunction – sending him back to 12th with 84 laps to go Sunday night at Darlington Raceway. He would finish second to Martin Truex Jr., whose team executed near flawlessly on pit road in the latter stages.
Kyle Larson: Backed up first victory of his career last week with a third-place finish. Joey Logano was fifth, followed by Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott.
With 12 laps to go and on the final restart of the race, Truex Jr. and last week’s victor Kyle Larson restarted on the front row with Harvick right behind them.
“Yeah, it’s been quite a weekend, quite a night”, Truex said. “I’ve always loved this racetrack. I was fighting to get them back”.
It is the second time the driver of the No. 78 went to victory lane this season. The first time came in 2011 with Regan Smith for the organizations first ever win in the Sprint Cup Series. As for possibly making a pit-crew member switch with the team that belongs to Harvick’s other teammate, Danica Patrick, who has not qualified for the Chase? We just didn’t do a good job on pit road. “It’s been that way for a few years”, he said.
Shortly after the restart, Jimmie Johnson spun.
After another race filled with mistakes on pit road, Kevin Harvick made it clear he’s not happy with his pit crew.
“We started 12th and eighth and sixth and we had a great race auto all night just got to thank everybody in the shop and in the garage for putting the race cars under us”, said Harvick, who led a race-high 214 laps. “Just looking forward to that opportunity to work with this team and trying to go after our first championship”.
On Lap 203, Brian Scott was four laps down when Stewart attempted to pass him. I feel we have a lot of resources and we’ve moved people around, like I said. The move also picqued NASCAR’s interest.
Stewart and his crew chief were summoned to the NASCAR hauler after the race.
Stewart’s race ended early when an overheating engine expired 49 laps from the end. Stewart drove the red-and-gold Coca-Cola vehicle patterned like the one Bobby Allison steered to victory at the Southern 500 in 1971 and ’72. All three of those winless drivers – rookie Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon and Jamie McMurray – can’t afford to have another driver win for a first time at Richmond this week, the final race of the postseason.
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The win gives Toyota 12 race wins in the 25 events so far this season, and it’s unlikely that it will be the manufacturer’s last. “With the Chase coming, get that confidence up and another win in the pocket”.
