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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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