Sonoma NASCAR: Martin Truex Jr ends six-year wait for second win

The Michael Waltrip Toyota driver was untouchable in the final stages of the race, with his winning margin blooming to eight seconds when second-placed Juan Pablo Montoya ran out of fuel on the final lap.

Truex first hit the front when those drivers who had pitted early in a race that could be three or two stops cycled to the front.

Whenever he was in clear air, Truex was able to storm away from the field.

A run of mid-race yellows allowed strategies to converge and everyone to two-stop, with Truex back up front by what proved to be the final restart.

He then blasted clear, saving enough fuel to reach the finish at a smooth pace and having to simply pray that there would not be a yellow to make him vulnerable to those with fresher tyres and less fuel anxiety.

Best of those was Jeff Gordon, who used four new tyres to slice through the field from 18th to third before Montoya ran out of fuel on the final lap and handed him second.

Gordon had earlier been given a penalty for pitting in a closed pit moments after a yellow had been called.

His recovery drive was not as impressive as Kurt Busch's. An early leader, he picked up a pitlane speeding penalty, then another one when he served his punishment.

That left him a lapped 38th, from where he incredibly recovered to fourth, behind Carl Edwards.

Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne took fifth and sixth, ahead of another early leader in the shape of Marcos Ambrose, whose handling faded mid-race.

Poleman Jamie McMurray was only 25th after a late puncture, while his Earnhardt Ganassi team-mate Montoya crawled past the flag in 34th.

During his early charge from 13th on the grid to the front, Montoya had shoved Kyle Busch into a spin. Busch had another hit from Edwards later, and also went off by himself, leaving him 35th.

Other incidents included a collision between top-10 runners Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton late on.

1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve was an early retirement with gearbox issues on his Cup return with Phoenix.

Results - 110 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                        Time/Gap
 1.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota              2h51m20.000s
 2.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet               +8.133s
 3.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford                +9.029s
 4.  Kurt Busch          Furniture Row Chevrolet         +13.216s
 5.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota                  +15.267s
 6.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet              +15.819s
 7.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                      +18.298s
 8.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford               +23.595s
 9.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet              +24.644s
10.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet             +25.531s
11.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                     +26.069s
12.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet              +26.417s
13.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota                  +27.260s
14.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet             +28.681s
15.  Ryan Newman         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet          +29.830s
16.  Casey Mears         Germain Ford                    +30.099s
17.  Travis Kvapil       BK Toyota                       +32.352s
18.  Boris Said          FAS Lane Ford                   +33.923s
19.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford               +35.856s
20.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                      +37.059s
21.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                     +37.748s
22.  Ron Fellows         Circle Sport Chevrolet          +37.982s
23.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota                +38.512s
24.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                  +38.824s
25.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhard Ganassi Chevrolet      +43.783s
26.  David Reutimann     BK Toyota                       +45.539s
27.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford               +46.336s
28.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet          +51.951s
29.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet          +58.872s
30.  Justin Marks        Baldwin Chevrolet               +59.499s
31.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet           +1m11.859s
32.  Josh Wise           Front Row Ford                +1m16.899s
33.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford                +1m17.776s
34.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhard Ganassi Chevrolet    +1m34.411s
35.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota                  +1 lap
36.  David Stremme       Swan Toyota                       +1 lap
37.  Victor Gonzalez Jr  Baldwin Chevrolet                 +1 lap
38.  Tomy Drissi         NEMCO Toyota                     +2 laps

Retirements:

     Paulie Harraka      Go Green Ford                    89 laps
     Alex Kennedy        Humphrey Smith Toyota            30 laps
     Jacques Villeneuve  Phoenix Chevrolet                19 laps
     JJ Yeley            Max Q Ford                        7 laps
     Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota              0 laps