Martin Truex Jr. broke a 69-race winless streak with a dominating victory at Pocono with Australian race engineer Peter Craik in his corner.
Despite sitting second in the standings heading into the Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400, Truex Jr. had been unable to close the deal. Truex Jr. had scored 12 top-10 finishes in the races contested and now he has added a victory.
The win is the first for the single car Furniture Row since Regan Smith at Darlington in 2011 and only its second in 285 races.
The victory is the first race win for Brisbane’s Craik who after V8 Supercar stints with Britek Motorsport and Kelly Racing, he has been applying his trade in Indycars with Andretti Autosport before moving to NASCAR this year.
After leading the most laps in the previous three races, Truex Jr. was the class of the field both on the long runs and even near the finish when three cautions were waved.
On each re-start he was able to gap the field and even with defending champion and points leader Kevin Harvick hunting at the finish he was unchallenged to become the 10th different race winner of the season.
“It feels unbelievable,” said Truex.
“I can’t thank all these guys enough on the Furniture Row Chevrolet. What a great group of guys. I knew we were going to get one. Everybody kept asking, ‘When are going to win? When are you going to win? What’s going on?’ I knew we had the team. I knew we had what it took. We just needed things to play out the way we needed them to. I feel like we’re on cloud nine right now.”
The victory was emotional for Truex Jr., who last year saw his long-time girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, battle with cancer.
“The last year and a half has been tough. This feels pretty dang good,” said a clearly emotional Truex Jr.
Harvick’s outstanding form saw him collect his 10th top-2 finish of the year. Third was Jimmie Johnson, last week’s winner at Dover. Joey Logano and Kurt Busch completed the top five.
VIDEO: Truex Jr. wins at Pocono
VIDEO: Victory Lane
RESULTS: Axalta “We Paint Winner’ 400 – Pocono Raceway
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MANUFACTURER | STARTING POS. | LAPS | LAPS LED | FINAL STATUS | POINTS | BONUS POINTS |
| 1 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Chevrolet | 3 | 160 | 97 | Running | 48 | 5 |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 5 | 160 | 39 | Running | 43 | 1 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 9 | 160 | 0 | Running | 41 | 0 |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 11 | 160 | 0 | Running | 40 | 0 |
| 5 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 1 | 160 | 0 | Running | 39 | 0 |
| 6 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 19 | 160 | 0 | Running | 38 | 0 |
| 7 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 14 | 160 | 0 | Running | 37 | 0 |
| 8 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 15 | 160 | 0 | Running | 36 | 0 |
| 9 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 10 | 160 | 0 | Running | 35 | 0 |
| 10 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 8 | 160 | 0 | Running | 34 | 0 |
| 11 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet | 20 | 160 | 0 | Running | 33 | 0 |
| 12 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 27 | 160 | 0 | Running | 32 | 0 |
| 13 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 12 | 160 | 2 | Running | 32 | 1 |
| 14 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 4 | 160 | 1 | Running | 31 | 1 |
| 15 | 19 | Carl Edwards | Toyota | 2 | 160 | 16 | Running | 30 | 1 |
| 16 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | 18 | 160 | 0 | Running | 28 | 0 |
| 17 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 7 | 160 | 0 | Running | 27 | 0 |
| 18 | 33 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 29 | 160 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 6 | 160 | 5 | Running | 26 | 1 |
| 20 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 30 | 160 | 0 | Running | 24 | 0 |
| 21 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 28 | 160 | 0 | Running | 23 | 0 |
| 22 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 23 | 160 | 0 | Running | 22 | 0 |
| 23 | 55 | David Ragan | Toyota | 21 | 160 | 0 | Running | 21 | 0 |
| 24 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 33 | 160 | 0 | Running | 20 | 0 |
| 25 | 40 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 32 | 160 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | 7 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 34 | 160 | 0 | Running | 18 | 0 |
| 27 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 35 | 160 | 0 | Running | 17 | 0 |
| 28 | 35 | Cole Whitt | Ford | 39 | 160 | 0 | Running | 16 | 0 |
| 29 | 98 | Josh Wise | Ford | 38 | 159 | 0 | Running | 15 | 0 |
| 30 | 34 | Brett Moffitt | Ford | 36 | 158 | 0 | Running | 14 | 0 |
| 31 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 16 | 158 | 0 | Running | 13 | 0 |
| 32 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 41 | 158 | 0 | Running | 12 | 0 |
| 33 | 26 | Jeb Burton | Toyota | 40 | 158 | 0 | Running | 11 | 0 |
| 34 | 46 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | 31 | 158 | 0 | Running | 10 | 0 |
| 35 | 32 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | 42 | 157 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | 23 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | 37 | 155 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 22 | 153 | 0 | Running | 7 | 0 |
| 38 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 26 | 143 | 0 | Radiator | 6 | 0 |
| 39 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 13 | 141 | 0 | Accident | 5 | 0 |
| 40 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 43 | 129 | 0 | Electrical | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | 9 | Sam Hornish Jr | Ford | 24 | 120 | 0 | Accident | 3 | 0 |
| 42 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | 17 | 105 | 0 | Running | 2 | 0 |
| 43 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 25 | 88 | 0 | Engine | 1 | 0 |
| POS | DRIVER | POINTS | BEHIND | STARTS | WINS | TOP 5 | TOP 10 | DNF |
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 559 | Leader | 14 | 2 | 10 | 13 | 0 |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr | 520 | -39 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 0 |
| 3 | Jimmie Johnson | 481 | -78 | 14 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 0 |
| 4 | Joey Logano | 480 | -79 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 0 |
| 5 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | 465 | -94 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 1 |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | 441 | -118 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| 7 | Jamie McMurray | 427 | -132 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| 8 | Kasey Kahne | 417 | -142 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| 9 | Matt Kenseth | 415 | -144 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| 10 | Jeff Gordon | 411 | -148 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| 11 | Paul Menard | 385 | -174 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 12 | Kurt Busch | 379 | -180 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| 13 | Denny Hamlin | 379 | -180 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| 14 | Aric Almirola | 379 | -180 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | Ryan Newman | 374 | -185 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| 16 | Carl Edwards | 368 | -191 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 17 | Clint Bowyer | 354 | -205 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | Greg Biffle | 343 | -216 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | Kyle Larson | 333 | -226 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| 20 | Danica Patrick | 328 | -231 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | Casey Mears | 308 | -251 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 22 | AJ Allmendinger | 300 | -259 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 23 | David Ragan | 290 | -269 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 24 | Austin Dillon | 290 | -269 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 25 | David Gilliland | 260 | -299 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Sam Hornish Jr | 255 | -304 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 27 | Tony Stewart | 253 | -306 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 28 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 243 | -316 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 29 | Justin Allgaier | 234 | -325 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 30 | Trevor Bayne | 228 | -331 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 31 | Cole Whitt | 227 | -332 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 32 | Brett Moffitt | 204 | -355 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | Alex Bowman | 192 | -367 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 34 | Michael Annett | 162 | -397 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 35 | Josh Wise | 144 | -415 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 36 | Matt DiBenedetto | 143 | -416 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Michael McDowell | 101 | -458 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Jeb Burton | 78 | -481 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 39 | Kyle Busch | 77 | -482 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 40 | Alex Kennedy | 48 | -511 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Bobby Labonte | 38 | -521 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Brian Vickers | 32 | -527 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Michael Waltrip | 26 | -533 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Reed Sorenson | 22 | -537 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Mike Wallace | 8 | -551 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | Ron Hornaday Jr | 2 | -557 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 47 | Ryan Blaney | 0 | -559 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 48 | Brian Scott | 0 | -559 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 49 | J.J. Yeley | 0 | -559 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 50 | Regan Smith | 0 | -559 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | Chase Elliott | 0 | -559 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Ty Dillon | 0 | -559 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 | Matt Crafton | 0 | -559 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 54 | Johnny Sauter | 0 | -559 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 | Chris Buescher | 0 | -559 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | Landon Cassill | 0 | -559 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 57 | Brendan Gaughan | 0 | -559 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 58 | Mike Bliss | 0 | -559 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 59 | Joe Nemechek | 0 | -559 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 60 | Travis Kvapil | 0 | -559 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 | Joey Gase | 0 | -559 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 62 | Jeff Green | 0 | -559 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 63 | Erik Jones | 0 | -559 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 | Tanner Berryhill | 0 | -559 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 65 | Justin Marks | 0 | -559 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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