Over Kyle Busch on Sunday, Martin Truex Jr. Wins Fourth Sonoma Race. Discover NASCAR: Martin Truex Jr. wins at Sonoma for the fourth time.
After a restart with 15 laps remaining in the 110-lap race, Truex took the lead on lap 97. As the first driver to restart on fresh tyres, Truex started in fourth place and quickly overtook Chase Elliott to take the lead.
After starting eighth, Truex led 51 laps, a record for the race. After polesitter and teammate Denny Hamlin dominated the first 32 laps, he took the lead for the first time on lap 33.
With the victory, Truex overtakes Jeff Gordon as the second-winningest driver at Sonoma. With three victories, Truex was equal with Tony Stewart going into the race on Sunday. He currently trails Gordon by five victories at Sonoma during his illustrious career.
Since the format’s introduction in 2017, the race was the first at Sonoma to take place without a caution for a stage break. On Sunday, there were just two cautions, and the first one was quite flimsy.
On lap 91, Denny Hamlin experienced a problem on the front stretch, bringing out the second caution of the race and triggering the final restart. Hamlin’s car had a broken rear toe link, although it was unclear what had occurred to it.
In his first race back following a one-race suspension for hooking Hamlin into the wall at the Coca-Cola 600, Joey Logano came in third, Chris Buescher came in fourth, and Chase Elliott came in fifth.
Truex is a legitimate championship threat
It’s hard to see how he isn’t one of the favorites to win the 2023 title after Sunday’s race
“This is why you go through years like we had last year,” Truex said after climbing from his car. “You just keep fighting. You never give up on it. You always believe in each other.
“We haven’t changed anything on our team other than parts and pieces. It’s through a lot of hard work of a lot of people”
| Position | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Truex Jr. |
| 2 | Kyle Busch |
| 3 | Joey Logano |
| 4 | Chris Buescher |
| 5 | Chase Elliott |
| 6 | AJ Allmendinger |
| 7 | Michael McDowell |
| 8 | Kyle Larson |
| 9 | Christopher Bell |
| 10 | Ross Chastain |
| 11 | Kevin Harvick |
| 12 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 13 | Ryan Preece |
| 14 | William Byron |
| 15 | Alex Bowman |
| 16 | Brad Keselowski |
| 17 | Bubba Wallace |
| 18 | Ty Gibbs |
| 19 | Austin Dillon |
| 20 | Corey LaJoie |
| 21 | Justin Haley |
| 22 | Daniel Suarez |
| 23 | Ty Dillon |
| 24 | Todd Gilliland |
| 25 | Austin Cindric |
| 26 | Grant Enfinger |
| 27 | Harrison Burton |
| 28 | Aric Almirola |
| 29 | Chase Briscoe |
| 30 | Josh Bilicki |
| 31 | Ryan Blaney |
| 32 | Erik Jones |
| 33 | Tyler Reddick |
| 34 | Zane Smith |
| 35 | Andy Lally |
| 36 | Denny Hamlin |
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