NASCAR Homestead: Truex seals 2017 Cup title with Homestead win
Martin Truex Jr became the 2017 NASCAR Cup champion by fending off Kyle Busch to win a tense finale at Homestead
Furniture Row Toyota driver Truex took control of the first part of the race's final stint and initially built a cushion over another championship rival, Kevin Harvick, while Busch battled to get past Joey Logano for third.
But Truex's performance had faded over longer runs throughout the race, and he again became more vulnerable as the green flag stint wore on.
Though Harvick was first to close in on Truex, it was Busch who became the more dangerous opponent once he had cleared Logano.
With 17 laps of the 267-lap race to go, Busch took second from Harvick and was soon right on Truex's tail.
Kyle Larson then joined their battle, the Ganassi driver - who was not a title contender - having won the first two stages of the race.
But no matter what Busch tried, he could not deprive Truex of the lead, and in the closing laps he had to pay more attention to fending off Larson.
Busch got some breathing space when Larson lost momentum after tapping him and brushing the wall, but he could not get back on terms with Truex, who won by 0.681-seconds to claim his first Cup title.
It was also by far the biggest success in his small two-car Furniture Row team's history, and came just two weeks after team owner Barney Visser suffered a heart attack that prompted bypass surgery.
Harvick faded to a distant fourth, while the final title contender Brad Keselowski was not a factor in the deciding stint, as he finished behind Chase Elliott and Joey Logano in seventh.
Matt Kenseth completed what may well be his final Cup race in eighth.
The other famous names departing the field fared worse - Danica Patrick crashed out in a fiery incident that also involved Kasey Kahne, and Dale Earnhardt Jr ended his Cup career three laps down in 25th.
Race result
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 267 | 3h02m11.s |
2 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 267 | 0.681s |
3 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 1.580s |
4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 267 | 8.150s |
5 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 267 | 10.824s |
6 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 267 | 13.934s |
7 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 267 | 15.566s |
8 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 267 | 15.765s |
9 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 267 | 16.212s |
10 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 20.188s |
11 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 21.684s |
12 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 267 | 28.029s |
13 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 266 | 1 Lap |
14 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 266 | 1 Lap |
15 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 266 | 1 Lap |
16 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 265 | 2 Laps |
17 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 265 | 2 Laps |
18 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 265 | 2 Laps |
19 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 265 | 2 Laps |
20 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 265 | 2 Laps |
21 | Erik Jones | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 265 | 2 Laps |
22 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 265 | 2 Laps |
23 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 265 | 2 Laps |
24 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 265 | 2 Laps |
25 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 264 | 3 Laps |
26 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 264 | 3 Laps |
27 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 264 | 3 Laps |
28 | Cole Whitt | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 264 | 3 Laps |
29 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 264 | 3 Laps |
30 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 263 | 4 Laps |
31 | Corey LaJoie | BK Racing | Toyota | 261 | 6 Laps |
32 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Circle Sport / TMG | Chevrolet | 259 | 8 Laps |
33 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 234 | Accident |
34 | Daniel Suarez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 225 | Brakes |
35 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 212 | Engine |
36 | David Starr | MBM Motorsports | Chevrolet | 175 | Brakes |
37 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 139 | Accident |
38 | Ray Black Jr. | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 49 | Too slow |
39 | Joey Gase | BK Racing | Toyota | 4 | Accident |
Final drivers' standings
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Martin Truex Jr. | 5040 |
2 | Kyle Busch | 5035 |
3 | Kevin Harvick | 5033 |
4 | Brad Keselowski | 5030 |
5 | Chase Elliott | 2377 |
6 | Denny Hamlin | 2353 |
7 | Matt Kenseth | 2344 |
8 | Kyle Larson | 2320 |
9 | Ryan Blaney | 2305 |
10 | Jimmie Johnson | 2260 |
11 | Austin Dillon | 2224 |
12 | Jamie McMurray | 2224 |
13 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 2222 |
14 | Kurt Busch | 2217 |
15 | Kasey Kahne | 2198 |
16 | Ryan Newman | 2196 |
17 | Joey Logano | 930 |
18 | Clint Bowyer | 871 |
19 | Erik Jones | 863 |
20 | Daniel Suarez | 777 |
21 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 668 |
22 | Trevor Bayne | 660 |
23 | Paul Menard | 631 |
24 | Ty Dillon | 593 |
25 | Chris Buescher | 564 |
26 | Michael McDowell | 542 |
27 | A.J. Allmendinger | 531 |
28 | Danica Patrick | 511 |
29 | Aric Almirola | 502 |
30 | David Ragan | 447 |
31 | Landon Cassill | 382 |
32 | Matt DiBenedetto | 363 |
33 | Cole Whitt | 322 |
34 | Gray Gaulding | 164 |
35 | Reed Sorenson | 150 |
36 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 145 |
37 | Derrike Cope | 42 |
38 | Michael Waltrip | 29 |
39 | D.J. Kennington | 17 |
40 | Billy Johnson | 15 |
41 | Boris Said | 15 |
42 | Gary Klutt | 6 |
43 | Cody Ware | 6 |
44 | Alon Day | 5 |
45 | Kyle Weatherman | 5 |
46 | Kevin O'Connell | 4 |
47 | Tommy Regan | 3 |
48 | Hermie Sadler | 3 |
49 | Brendan Gaughan | 0 |
50 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | 0 |
51 | Corey LaJoie | 0 |
52 | Timmy Hill | 0 |
53 | Elliott Sadler | 0 |
54 | Ross Chastain | 0 |
55 | Joey Gase | 0 |
56 | Regan Smith | 0 |
57 | J.J. Yeley | 0 |
58 | Ryan Sieg | 0 |
59 | David Starr | 0 |
60 | B.J. McLeod | 0 |
61 | Brett Moffitt | 0 |
62 | Carl Long | 0 |
63 | Stephen Leicht | 0 |
64 | Ray Black Jr. | 0 |
65 | Josh Bilicki | 0 |
66 | Mark Thompson | 0 |
67 | Justin Marks | 0 |
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