DOVER, Del. – Martin Truex Jr. maintained his lead as Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points leader, coming home third in Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway after leading 102 laps.
Truex started second on Sunday and jumped to the front by Lap 22, trading the top spot with Kyle Larson for much of Stage 1. Truex went on to win both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the AAA 400 Drive for Autism, adding to his impressive total of Stage victories in 2017.
Truex was caught a lap down after a caution flew during a round of green flag pitstops late in the race, and then had to work back to the lead lap before having a shot to race down Larson and eventual winner Jimmie Johnson in the closing laps.
“We ran out of time I guess,” Truex said. “We had to pass a lot of cars – came from a long way back – but that’s the way it goes I guess some days. We had a really good car all day and good track position.”
“We had a good day. We had a good car and just got caught by that caution when we pitted and lost our shot at the win.”
Truex said racing at Dover has become extremely difficult and today’s race was no different.
“I can’t even tell you how challenging this track was with these cars and this aero package and all that,” Truex said. “I don’t even have enough fingers and toes to count how many times I almost wrecked by myself, so it was a lot of fun.”
In all, Truex was happy with his performance on Sunday and the fact that he was able to maintain his lead in the points. He goes to Pocono next week with a nine-point advantage over Larson.
“It was a good day, just not the finish we hoped for,” Truex said. “Still when you’re this disappointed with third, it speaks volumes about your team and where you’re at and what’s going on.
“I had a lot of fun out there today.”