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Bob PockrassNASCAR
SONOMA, Calif. – When NASCAR drivers and team leaders say that races are won and lost on the pit road, they mean nothing of what happened Sunday at the Sonoma Raceway.
It had nothing to do with performance. Just some acting skills.
Act I: With 37 laps remaining, the crew of Martin Truex Jr. stood with tires in his hand on the pit wall as he expected Truex to arrive for what would be the last stop of refueling of the planned green flag. Truex has been told to make a pit. For all that Truex knew, he was going to work.
Martin Truex Jr won his second career win at Sonoma on Sunday.
With the Cup series heading to Sonoma Raceway this weekend, it's a good time to see the drivers who, according to Ricky Craven, have best attacked the chicanes.
Denny Hamlin said Friday that he had focused on positive messages on social media and he advised fellow NASCAR drivers, owners and leaders of the sport to avoid s & # 39; s. Engage with those who post negative comments.
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Act II: When Chief Kevin Harvick entered the pit lane, Furniture Row Racing Team Leader Cole Pearn told Truex to stay out of the way. Truex stitched seven laps later.
Third Act: As the race became green again, Truex won the Toyota / Save Mart 350 by more than 10 seconds thanks to cooler tires for the last 30 laps of the event.
"We are in California," Truex joked. "We went to the drama school this week, they were in LA for a few days on the weekends, learning to do scenarios and stuff … Our guys are smooth, dude.
The game was so good, even Truex was a bit confused at first, because just one lap before the comedy started, the team had told him to do nine laps later. But Truex and Pearn have a solid relationship.
"I never ask him when he calls shopping – it's just yes or no answers from me," Truex said. "He told me to make a pit, and I thought to myself, 'OK, I'm going to make a pit.' And then he said: 'Do not make pit &' So I said to myself 'I'm just going to stay out'. "
Epilogue: Harvick's team leader, Rodney Childers, said that he had been preaching for two days to not just react to other people's strategy, but he reacted. The fact that he competed at the same time as Sunday helped Harvick win the Sonoma race last year, but the team thought that it would only work that day because it was not a big deal. they had the second best car behind Truex.
"What we did last time allowed us to win the race, but when we finished the race, we did not feel that it was the right thing to do," said Childers. "We thought we would race differently – and I do not know.
"We just needed to worry about ourselves and not worry about what others are doing."
Harvick was not at all surprised to be called to the pits with 37 laps remaining. Like Truex, he lets his team leader determine the strategy.
"I did not know what the plan was," said Harvick. "If there was a plan, tell me."
With the brakes gone long distances, Harvick said the Childers should not feel bad because of the call.
As for the Truex team's acting talents, Harvick did not seem as impressed by them as by the solid performance of their car and Truex at the wheel.
"Not really [impressed by the fake]Said Harvick, "a lot of the time, it's always going to be better to run your race based on what you think is right and what you think is wrong.
"I'm driving just as fast as I can. [on my crew]we won a lot of races and did a lot of things. He should not be fighting on a refueling team because I think our car has been canceled more than one call. "
After Truex came in after Harvick, Childers brought Harvick back to the Pit Road to be able to have cooler tires if a cautionary statement was required. Harvick also had two loose wheel nuts before the extra refueling stop, which would have resulted in a suspension of a run for Childers if the team has not yet dug it.
"Those who are like that have a little pain," said Childers. "But it's over, everything is fine, I thought the 78 [of Truex] We had the best car and we won the race, and this year we had the best car and they won the race. We are square now. "
They are a little square. Harvick has won five races this year. Truex has now won three.
"We still have to beat them a few times," said Barney Visser, owner of Furniture Row Racing. "This place can break your heart.
"You show up with the fastest equipment, and we both think we have the best driver, and today we won and they lost."
So, what is the next act? Furniture Row Racing still has room to step up its acting game.
The only thing that he did not do on Sunday was to have a code word. Teams are known to use code words to try to get rid of their competitors. Since the team never planned any bites, she would have easily had a code word for Truex.
"No codes," said Truex. "It's a recipe for disaster – we've seen it before when guys have codes and they call it, and the guy says," What is it? that I thought it was the other way around. & # 39;
"We tell ourselves what's going on and we're playing it, but today it was a little different, they had ideas that I did not know and took advantage of them.
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