Chicagoland NASCAR: Martin Truex Jr grabs win in Chase opener
Martin Truex Jr produced a superb drive to take his third victory of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season in the first round of the Chase at Chicagoland
Rookie Chase Elliott looked set to take his first victory after leading for most of the second half of the race.
However, with four laps to go, a crash from Michael McDowell meant a late flurry of pitstops under the caution flag, where Truex took advantage and moved ahead of Elliott.
The caution took the race into Overtime, which allowed Truex to clear Ryan Blaney - who had not pitted - and take the chequered flag ahead of Joey Logano and Elliott.
Furniture Row Racing driver Truex was on a charge throughout the race, moving up from sixth on the grid to the lead by lap 22.
But a front right tyre issue forced an extra pitstop just over 50 laps later.
Though that dropped Truex a lap down, a blistering second half of the race with a strong effort by the pit crew set up his last-gasp victory.
Logano ran in the top 10 for much of the race and was elevated to the runner-up spot after a strong last stint.
Elliott was gradually climbing the order throughout and displayed great calmness under pressure but the Hendrick Motorsports driver was undone by the final round of pitstops.
Fellow rookie Blaney finished fourth overall after running consistently with those in the Chase before his good strategy call at the late caution thrust him into contention.
Brad Keselowski spent much of the race in the top three but couldn't keep pace with the Hendrick Motorsports cars.
He faded as the race approached the closing stages to finish fifth ahead of Denny Hamlin.
Polesitter and reigning champion Kyle Busch started well before falling down the order and ending up eighth after a pitlane speeding penalty.
Jimmie Johnson, the six time champion who has never missed the Chase since its introduction in 2004, was running first for much of the race after the first caution.
But he was passed by team-mate Elliott and later hit with a speeding penalty, leaving him 12th and meaning he has still never won at Chicagoland.
Kyle Larson, who was quickest in both of Saturday's practice sessions but started at the back due to a change of transmission, made a strong start and was up to fifth at one point but dropped to 18th after an extra pitstop.
Experienced Chase competitors Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth never felt comfortable with their cars while Kevin Harvick had to start from the back of the grid for a bodywork modification and finished a lap down in 20th despite a charge through the field.
RESULTS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 270 |
2 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 270 |
3 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 270 |
4 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 270 |
5 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 270 |
6 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 270 |
7 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 270 |
8 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 270 |
9 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 270 |
10 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 270 |
11 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 270 |
12 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 270 |
13 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 270 |
14 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 270 |
15 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 270 |
16 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 270 |
17 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 270 |
18 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 269 |
19 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 269 |
20 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 269 |
21 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 269 |
22 | Clint Bowyer | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 269 |
23 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 269 |
24 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 269 |
25 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 268 |
26 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 268 |
27 | Ty Dillon | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 268 |
28 | Chris Buescher | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 268 |
29 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 267 |
30 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 267 |
31 | Brian Scott | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 266 |
32 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 266 |
33 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 265 |
34 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 265 |
35 | David Ragan | BK Racing | Toyota | 265 |
36 | Cole Whitt | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 263 |
37 | Michael McDowell | Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 262 |
38 | Josh Wise | The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet | 260 |
39 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 257 |
40 | Joey Gase | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 254 |
CHASE STANDINGS:
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Martin Truex Jr. | 2050 |
2 | Brad Keselowski | 2049 |
3 | Kyle Busch | 2046 |
4 | Denny Hamlin | 2045 |
5 | Joey Logano | 2043 |
6 | Chase Elliott | 2039 |
7 | Matt Kenseth | 2038 |
8 | Jimmie Johnson | 2037 |
9 | Carl Edwards | 2032 |
10 | Kurt Busch | 2031 |
11 | Jamie McMurray | 2030 |
12 | Tony Stewart | 2028 |
13 | Kevin Harvick | 2027 |
14 | Austin Dillon | 2027 |
15 | Kyle Larson | 2026 |
16 | Chris Buescher | 2016 |
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments