Martin Truex Jr. punched his ticket to the "Round of 12" on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, by holding off Joey Logano on a "Green, White, Checkered" finish. The race might of been called the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 but Truex had to find his inner Shredder to race through the field after falling a lap down early.
NEXT: Coming into Chicagoland Speedway, many drivers had different philosophies coming into the weekend. For Truex and Crew Chief, Cole Pearn, the philosophy was go fast and that what they did majority of the race even after having a tire go down and had to come to pit road for a unscheduled pit stop. Although his number 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota failed post race qualifying, it was only a P2 infraction and Truex is still gonna be credited with the win and can breathe easy the next two races.
Still CHASEing a Win: It looked like today was gonna be the day that Hendrick Motorsports flexed their muscle and got into Victory lane for the first time since spring. Jimmie Johnson lead a race high 118 laps before a pit road speeding penalty which handed the lead over to rookie driver, Chase Elliott. As the laps wind down, Elliott seemed to be in control with Truex trying to catch him and then a yellow flag came out for Michael McDowell with just three laps to go. He led the field down pit road and came off second but had to restart in the fifth position on the inside line behind guys who stayed out. When the green flag through, Elliott did all he could but couldn't get the momentum that guys restarting on the high side got and finished 3rd behind fellow Chase drivers, Truex and Joey Logano.
SPOILER ALERT: We knew once the Chase started, teams outside the top 16 in points were gonna be taking risk and it almost paid off. When Chase Elliott and the leaders came to pit road. Rookie driver, Ryan Blaney and Kasey Kahne opted to stay on the track and see if they could hold off the leaders along with Chase driver, Carl Edwards. The gambled paid off for Blaney and Kahne who finished 4th and 7th but backfired for Edwards who got shuffled back and finished 15th.
Chase Standings: Here's how the Chase field looks heading into New Hampshire!
Cars of Martin Truex and Jimmie Johnson failed post race inspection and will be issued penalties for a P2 violation. We won't know until Tuesday what the punishment will be but it should result in a loss of 10 points for each. Although Truex will keep the victory granting him a spot in the "Round of 12" the penalty for Johnson will knock him out of the top 12 in points and put the pressure on him the next two weeks.
My Take: It was definitely a great weekend for Toyota for they had drivers that won all three events and Martin Truex did have the fastest car all day and fought his way back on the lead lap. It will be interesting to see how favorites like Johnson, Harvick, and Stewart race this upcoming weekend. Will they be conservative or will they let it all hang out in a effort to avoid a must win situation at Dover.
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