LONG POND, Pa -- Martin Truex Jr. held off Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch to take the checkered flag at Pocono Raceway on Sunday. It's Truex's second win of the season and the second of his career at the Tricky Triangle.

The No. 78 battled through adversity to win this weekend, overcoming a pit stop that dropped him as low as 14th while Harvick and Busch dominated the race. It is the 17th win of Truex's career in 455 starts. 

Truex won his third stage of the season, taking the green-and-white checkered flag in Stage 1 over Harvick. The 2017 champion, Truex, holds the record for stage wins with 19 last season in the inaugural year for stage racing. Harvick finished the stage second followed by Busch, Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin.

The No. 4 would not be denied in Stage 2 however, as Harvick took his series-leading seventh green-and-white checkered flag after building a huge lead. Kyle Busch finished the stage second followed by Bowyer, Truex and Chase Elliott. 

Pocono 400 results

  1. Martin Truex Jr.
  2. Kyle Larson
  3. Kyle Busch
  4. Kevin Harvick
  5. Brad Keselowski
  6. Ryan Blaney
  7. Aric Almirola
  8. Jimmie Johnson
  9. Joey Logano
  10. Chase Elliott
  11. Paul Menard
  12. Austin Dillon
  13. Matt Kenseth
  14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  15. Jamie McMurray
  16. David Ragan
  17. Chris Buescher
  18. William Byron
  19. Kurt Busch
  20. Clint Bowyer
  21. Michael McDowell
  22. AJ Allmendinger
  23. Ty Dillon
  24. Daniel Suarez
  25. Ryan Newman
  26. Cole Custer
  27. Alex Bowman
  28. Ross Chastain
  29. Erik Jones
  30. Cole Whitt
  31. Landon Cassill
  32. JJ Yeley
  33. Gray Gaulding
  34. Derrike Cope
  35. Denny Hamlin
  36. Kasey Kahne
  37. Matt DiBenedetto
  38. Darrell Wallace Jr.

2018 NASCAR Cup Series standings

POSITIONDRIVERCAR #POINTSBEHINDWINS

1.

Kyle Busch

18

624

LEADER

4

2.

Kevin Harvick

4

537

-87

5

3.

Joey Logano

22

534

-90

1

4.

Martin Truex Jr.

78

487

-137

2

5.

Brad Keselowski

2

474

-150

0

6.

Clint Bowyer

14

453

-171

1

7.

Kurt Busch

41

447

-177

0

8.

Denny Hamlin

11

437

-187

0

9.

Kyle Larson

42

425

-199

0

10.

Ryan Blaney

12

413

-211

0

11.

Aric Almirola

10

406

-218

0

12.

Jimmie Johnson

48

360

-264

0

13.

Chase Elliott

9

334

-290

0

14.

Erik Jones

20

322

-302

0

15.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

17

319

-305

0

16.

Alex Bowman

88

310

-314

0



CUTOFF


17.

Paul Menard

21

289

-335

0

18.

Austin Dillon

3

269

-355

0

19.

Daniel Suarez

19

258

-366

1

20.

Jamie McMurray

1

253

-371

0

Here's how it all went down:

Stage 1: Martin Truex Jr. takes it from Kevin Harvick

Ryan Blaney started on the pole and got out to an early lead as Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick battled for second behind him. Eleven laps into the race, Harvick made the pass on Blaney for the lead as they crossed the start-finish line.

Blaney began slipping back in the pack after surrendering the lead and decided to make a green-flag pit stop for adjustments 17 laps in. His Penske teammate Joey Logano followed one lap later as the field began making scheduled stops.

Harvick and Truex pitted from the lead on Lap 24, nearly halfway through the stage. Brad Keselowski stayed out as long as he could, stretching 35 laps before coming down pit road in Stage 1. When all was said and done, Harvick recycled to the lead ahead of Truex. The No. 78 made a run on Harvick with less than 10 to go in the Stage and made the pass for the lead with six to go.

Truex went on to win the stage while Logano came into the pits with less than two to go after running out of fuel. Logano had to suffer a penalty and lost lap time.

Stage 1 results

  1. Martin Truex Jr. (10 points plus 1 playoff point)
  2. Kevin Harvick (9 points)
  3. Kyle Busch (8 points)
  4. Clint Bowyer (7 points)
  5. Denny Hamlin (6 points)
  6. Chase Elliott (5 points)
  7. Ryan Blaney (4 points)
  8. Kyle Larson (3 points)
  9. Jimmie Johnson (2 points)
  10. Brad Keselowski (1 point)

Stage 2: Harvick back to his old tricks

Keselowski restarted from the lead but instantly gave it up to Harvick to open Stage 2. The No. 2 car held second position for the first few laps but gave it up to Busch on Lap 61. After running third for 10 more laps, Keselowski got green flag pit stops going 15 laps into the stage.

Harvick continued to lead, but waited a little longer than Keselowski to pit. The No. 4 came in from the lead with 32 remaining in Stage 2, one lap after Truex and Busch. After a few laps led by Darrell "Bubba" Wallace, Harvick recycled back to the top spot. Wallace came down pit road after surrendering the lead and was then penalized for speeding.

Like we've seen most of the season, Harvick drove on unchallenged to win the stage with Busch trailing in second. 

Stage 2 results:

  1. Kevin Harvick (10 points plus 1 playoff point)
  2. Kyle Busch (9 points)
  3. Clint Bowyer (8 points)
  4. Martin Truex Jr. (7 points)
  5. Chase Elliott (6 points)
  6. Kyle Larson (5 points)
  7. Brad Keselowski (4 points)
  8. Ryan Blaney (3 points)
  9. Jimmie Johnson (2 points)
  10. Alex Bowman (1 point)

Final Stage: Late cautions benefit Truex

Harvick restarted from the lead and built another huge one to begin the Final Stage as a bad day continued for Bubba Wallace. The No. 43 driver saw his power shut off and was forced to bring the car into the garage as the first car out of the race. Moments later, Matt DiBenedetto wheeled his No. 32 into the garage after seeing his right front engulfed in flames.

With 36 laps to go, Derrike Cope went spinning in Turn 3 to bring out the first incident-related caution. It appeared that Larson turned Cope, who was eight laps down. Kyle Busch beat Harvick off pit road under yellow.

Harvick fell back to third on the restart as Truex moved into second while Busch led. The three rode together in line until 21 to go when the caution flag flew for debris. Under yellow, Kyle Busch elected to make a pit stop while Truex and Harvick stayed out. Truex restarted from the lead ahead of Harvick while Busch wound up eighth. Elliott also stayed out and restarted third.

The No. 78 pulled away when the green flag flew as Larson moved into second place. Just as things were getting interesting, Hamlin got loose and spun up the high end of the racetrack into Alex Bowman. That wreck brought out the caution and sent both drivers down pit road for repairs. 

On the restart, Logano got into the backend of Erik Jones and put him into the wall. It appeared that the No. 22 was trying to give the No. 20 a push and just gave him a little too much. 

On the restart, Larson challenged Truex but it didn't prove to be enough as the No. 78 drove on to win his second race of the season.

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