The Jersey boy Martin Truex, Jr. celebrated his fourth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the season on Sunday when he outlasted a fuel consumption challenge at Watkins Glen International in New York.
Truex in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota led 24 of 90 laps which was a race high for the New Jersey native. At the finish line with a sprint to the checkered flag with Matt Kenseth in the No. 20 Toyota, Truex was able to hold him off with a .414 second victory. This was Truex first win at Watkins Glen and 11th career victory as a Monster Energy Series race driver.
The No. 78 took the lead in the 88th lap for good, as his competitors enter into pit road to refuel their cars. Truex stayed on the track and expertly managed his fuel consumption to get him across the finish line into the winners circle.
Matt Kenseth who really wanted to win this race to guarantee himself a spot in the playoffs just came up short and finished in second place. Daniel Suarez was the Stage 2 winner placed third, Denny Hamlin fourth and Clint Bowyer fifth. The remaining top 10 include Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch Stage 1 winner, Ryan Blaney, AJ Allmendinger and Erik Jones.
After winning his ninth stage race of the season Kyle Busch had to make an extra stop in pit road which proved to be very costly. He had a lug nut wedged between the brake caliper and wheel on his left front tire, which moved him back to 32nd place, however, he surged past other drivers with an extremely fast race car to get into the top 10 by the end of the second stage and eventually attain a respectable seventh place finish.
The standings for the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series still has Martin Truex, Jr. in the lead with 881 points which includes his victory at Watkins Glen, Kyle Busch trails with 765, Kyle Larson 759, Kevin Harvick 746, Denny Hamlin 687, Brad Keselowski 681, Chase Elliott 648, Jamie McMurray 643, Matt Kenseth 637 and Clint Bowyer 609.
Coming up next weekend the Monster Energy Cup Series will move to the Michigan International Speedway for the Pure Michigan 400 running on Sunday August 13th to begin at 3:00 PM eastern. NASCAR race fans can follow all the exciting action on NBCSN, MRN, or Streaming on NBC Sports.
