Martin Truex Jr. Schools Field with Dominant Sonoma Win

Martin Truex Jr. knows what it is like to beat Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. (Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)

SONOMA, Calif. – Martin Truex Jr. is reaping the benefits of weathering through last year’s tough, winless campaign with a far kinder, victorious start to 2023.

Rather than the focus spotlight the pointed moments between Truex and crew chief James Small, the emphasis should be on this duo’s incredible recent run of success. After all, Truex snapped a 54-race winless drought with a triumph at Dover Motor Speedway in late April.

Likely locked into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, the Mayetta Township, New Jersey native was ready to rumble in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. However, in the early going, Denny Hamlin established himself as a formidable contender, starting from the pole and leading the race’s opening 32 laps.

Starting from the eighth position, Truex worked his way past his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, on Lap 33.  Enjoying his first stint in the lead for 18 laps, Truex established himself as the man to beat, making his presence known at the front of the field for 53 of the race’s 110 laps.

By far, of the seven different leaders in Sunday’s race, Truex was the dominant force, looking more like the man who won at Sonoma in 2013, 2018 and 2019.

Despite the race’s two cautions, namely for a tire that rolled loose from Zane Smith’s pit stall on Lap 51 and Denny Hamlin’s frontstretch crash on Lap 93, it was Truex’s race to lose.

Truex and Small put an incredible performance together for a successful Sunday at Sonoma. (Photo: Aaron Brink | The Podium Finish)

While there were different pit strategies to try and gain traction position ahead of or run near Truex, the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry was simply too much at the Northern California road course.

Meanwhile, Kyle Busch, who started from the 12th spot, worked his way up to second in the closing laps. Still, he did not have the pace to catch and challenge Truex for the win.

In the end, Truex captured his second victory of the season, besting Busch by 2.979 seconds. After earning his 33rd career Cup win, Truex expressed his unwavering confidence with his team’s preparation and efforts ahead of Sunday’s race.

“I felt like our Bass Pro Shops Camry TRD was really close (on Saturday) in practice. If we could make a few adjustments, I thought we would be good,” Truex said. “They definitely made the right adjustments. This place is all about rear traction, rear drive and being able to manage that and keep turning and keep momentum. We were able to do that today. The car was really, really good.

“Just a total team effort. Everybody works really, really hard. We were awful here last year, and at road course in general, so to come back here, this has kind of been a playground for us before, and to be able to get back here with this car and do it again feels really, really special. It’s really gratifying. We’ve worked hard for this one.”

Busch is enjoying the current run of frontrunning finishes. (Photo: Aaron Brink | The Podium Finish)

The theme of hard work paying dividends seemed prevalent with the top three finishers including Busch and his No. 8 McLaren Custom Grills Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team. If Busch had it his way, there would be a race next weekend.

“It’s nice to come out here with a second place finish after a win last week,” Busch said. “We have three wins at this point in the season, and this team is really stringing together some good runs, so I don’t know if I want an off week. It will be good to regroup, focus and set up for the last 18 races of the season, though.

“Overall, I’m just really proud of the guys on this team, the communication, and the way they are able to go to work, work through some of our issues and try to improve on what I need to be able to feel in a race car and pull out finishes like the one we had today. If we can keep doing those things, we will be a force for the championship.”

Joey Logano mustered a rewarding third place finish, a feat that seemed like a victory considering the struggles that Team Penske endured throughout the Sonoma Raceway weekend. Much like Busch and Truex, some brilliant teamwork paid off in the race.

Solid execution and teamwork played a helping hand with Logano’s strong Sonoma finish. (Photo: Aaron Brink | The Podium Finish)

“Paul (Wolfe, crew chief) made some great calls, but also made some great changes,” Logano said. “I kind of felt like doing a burnout after our day. That felt pretty good. Great execution. We got the car a lot better last night where I could at least hang in the top five.

“We got lucky a few times today. One with the strategy, but also we got hit by the 45 (Tyler Reddick) and knocked the tire off the bead, but somehow it’s holding air, so we got pretty lucky today and got through it.”

In spite of Truex’s commanding victory, it was not without its understanding fears and concerns. After all, Sonoma has its short track calamity moments that eliminate contenders by the wayside like teammate Hamlin crashing out in a Lap 93 fronstretch accident.

On this race day, Truex, Small and the No. 19 team put a virtually flawless afternoon that greatly increases their case as a genuine championship contender.

To the victors enjoying a post-race before a Father’s Day holiday weekend off. (Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)

“Yeah, it is a little nerve-wracking,” Truex said. “You get a restart, we restarted 10th in the middle the race after leading – just strategy got kind of jumbled up – with that weird caution the way it fell. You are always nervous that you are going to get banged up or get off course.

“This track is narrow and it is hard to pass. When you are racing around guys with older tires, it is easy for them to make a mistake and slide into us, but everybody raced clean, raced hard, and we were able to pull it out.”

Stage 1 Top 10 Finishers

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Christopher Bell
4. AJ Allmendinger
5. Michael McDowell
6. Tyler Reddick
7. Chris Buescher
8. Ty Gibbs
9. Alex Bowman
10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Stage 2 Top 10 Finishers

1. Kyle Busch
2. Joey Logano
3. Ross Chastain
4. William Byron
5. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
6. Austin Dillon
7. Martin Truex Jr.
8. Michael McDowell
9. Christopher Bell
10. Kevin Harvick

Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway Finishing Order