FONTANA, Calif. – Martin Truex Jr., the defending Cup Series champion, rode his pole position to victory Sunday, winning the Auto Club 400 for his first victory of the 2018 season.
Truex, who won eight races in 2017, led 125 of the 200 laps en route to the victory.
"I knew we had a good racecar, honestly after the first adjustment of the race and from there it was just managing my tires and being smart," Truex said. "We had a little trouble getting beat out of the pits and that was tough and we fell back to fifth, and we had to work our way back up front, and I really had to take care of my front tires. And once we had some clean air, it was unbelievable."
Truex became the first driver to win the pole and sweep every stage of a race since stage racing was implemented by NASCAR last season.
Kyle Larson finished second and Kyle Busch third. Truex and Busch gave Toyota two of the top three spots in the race. Kevin Harvick, favored to win his fourth race in a row coming in, made contact with Larson on lap 22, and ended up hitting the wall. He was never in contention after that and finished 35th out of 37 drivers.
FINAL LAPS: The closing portion of the race featured a battle for the lead matching Truex, Kyle Busch and Larson. With 18 laps to go, Truex had a five-second lead over Busch and Larson, who were fighting for second.
HARVICK STREAKS IN TROUBLE: Winner of three consecutive Cup races, Kevin Harvick was shooting for a higher spot in history with a fourth Sunday, but that march ended early in the race when he collided with Larson on the backstretch. They were running side by side when Harvick appeared to move down the track and into the side of Larson’s car. The impact sent Harvick’s car into the outside wall, causing heavy damage.
Harvick lost two laps while his team made repairs in the pits, and his car’s speed was negatively impacted the rest of the race. Larson remained near the front much of the afternoon.
"I went down to side draft and he was coming up and just knocked the thing to the right and just spun out," Harvick said. "I don't know that that was his fault. I think that was my fault for coming down the racetrack and trying to side draft, and we touched. I tried to get a little too much there."
STAGE 2: Truex scored again at the end of stage two, leading Brad Keselowski by 1.8 seconds. Following were Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Larson, Clint Bowyer and William Byron.
PAIN FOR BAYNE: Trevor Bayne slapped the outside wall on lap 109 after slight contact with Ryan Newman. The incident produced the race’s third caution. Bayne called his meeting with the wall a hard hit.
“The right front blew at 200-whatever we’re doing here, and the problem with here is you see the wall coming forever, so that’s not a fun ride when you’re on the brakes and it isn’t slowing down and it’s not turning," Bayne said. "You know you’re going to hit hard, and I feel like I should be hurting right now as hard as that was, so that’s a testament to what NASCAR has done with safety because I feel like I should be looking at you funny right now and I feel great.”
STAGE 1: Truex, master of stage wins last season, scored his first of the new year, leading Kyle Busch by 3.5 seconds. Also in the top 10 were Logano, Keselowski, Johnson, Larson, Kurt Busch, Jones, Bowyer and Hamlin.
