Martin Truex Jr. finally breaks through at Pocono

Martin Truex Jr. took the #78 Chevrolet to a much-earned win in Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania. Truex had finished in the top-ten in all but one race heading into the weekend and became a driver to watch, especially considering Denver-based Furniture Row Racing's status as an "underdog" team. The team has made a big turnaround from last year and they further proved it by winning a race on the 2.5-mile triangle. Truex, driving with a different setup than he had at Kansas, Charlotte and Dover, had to hold off the #4 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick, who was slowly gaining on him during the final laps. Third-place Jimmie Johnson in the #48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was more than ten seconds behind Truex and Harvick at the checkered flag.

The pole for the race went to Harvick's teammate Kurt Busch in the #41 Chevrolet; it was his third of the season. Carl Edwards led some of the opening laps in the #19 Toyota. Truex had taken the lead by the time of the first set of green flag pit stops, during which Joey Logano in the #22 Team Penske Ford was given a speeding penalty. Harvick later reassumed the lead with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who swept both Pocono Cup races last year, getting up to second on a restart. Austin Dillon also led a few circuits in the #3 Chevrolet. Drivers who had bad restarts throughout the race included Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski.

On lap 70 of 160, the #17 Ford of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hit the wall to bring out a caution. Sam Hornish Jr. also wrecked his #9 Ford on lap 121. During another caution a few laps later brought out by an incident involving Keselowski and Brett Moffitt, Keselowski and Kasey Kahne got together on pit road and also hit Earnhardt's car, which caused the field to get shuffled considerably by the time of the restart. The final restart took place on lap 145 and Truex assumed the lead for good. Harvick closed in to within a second and a half of Truex. These were the only two contenders in the closing laps, as Jimmie Johnson was several seconds behind Truex and Harvick.

Next week, the Cup series races in Brooklyn, Michigan for another 400-mile race, this time on a 2-mile oval, before taking Father's Day weekend off and then heading out to Sonoma, California for some road racing.

Race Results:

1. (3) 78-Martin Truex Jr. - Chevrolet - 160 laps, led 97 laps
2. (5) 4-Kevin Harvick - Chevrolet - 160 laps, led 39 laps
3. (9) 48-Jimmie Johnson - Chevrolet - 160 laps
4. (11) 22-Joey Logano - Ford - 160 laps
5. (1) 41-Kurt Busch - Chevrolet - 160 laps
6. (19) 20-Matt Kenseth - Toyota - 160 laps
7. (14) 1-Jamie McMurray - Chevrolet - 160 laps
8. (15) 42-Kyle Larson - Chevrolet - 160 laps
9. (10) 18-Kyle Busch - Toyota - 160 laps
10. (8) 11-Denny Hamlin - Toyota - 160 laps