SONOMA — Parlaying a near perfect race run with a bit of trickery, Martin Truex Jr. (#78 5-Hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops Toyota) cruised to victory in Sunday’s 30th Annual Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

Elk Grove native Kyle Larson (#42 DC Solar Chevrolet) led the 38-car field to the green flag for the start of the 110-lap race, but quickly lost the lead to Truex on lap 3.

Kevin Harvick (#4 Mobile 1 Ford) and AJ Allmendinger (#47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet) soon moved into second and third as Larson continued to fade into oblivion, never to be a factor for the rest of the rest, ultimately finishing a disappointing 14th.

Both Truex and Harvick elected to pit just before the mandatory stop at the end of the first stage of the race on lap 25 while Allmendinger stayed on the track to win Stage 1 and the 10 points that go with it.

Allmendinger’s race would soon come to an abrupt end just eight laps later when he missed a shift and blew up his engine.

Truex and Harvick again dove into the pits just before the end of the second stage on lap 50, sacrificing the Stage 2 win to Denny Hamlin (#11 FedEx Toyota) but setting themselves up for the race win by emerging in the front of the pack after everyone else had completed their second stop.

While the race at Sonoma often produces more hard knocks than an MMA bout, this year’s race turned into somewhat of a chess match or perhaps, more accurately, a game of Truth or Consequences.

With the cars getting a maximum of 40 laps on a full tank of fuel, Harvick held a slim lead over Truex as the teams entered into their final pit windows when Truex’s crew chief Cole Pearn began shouting over the radio to “pit, pit, pit now!” on lap 73.

Harvick took the bait and shot into the pits, along with the third place car of Clint Bowyer (#14 One Cure Ford) while Pearn quickly changed orders and kept Truex on the track.

“Our plan all along was to do one stop in the final stage, but we needed them to pit first to make it work,” said Pearn after the race. “It was a bit of a gamble, but obviously it paid off for us.”

Truex would eventually make his final pit stop eight laps later, emerging with a healthy lead and fresher tires over both Harvick and Bowyer.

“That call was all Cole’s,” explained Truex, “I am cool with whatever he wants to do. I have a lot of trust in him and I just do what he says.” 

Realizing they had been outfoxed, both Harvick and Boyer elected to roll the dice themselves and pit again on lap 92 with hopes that a late race yellow-caution would bunch up the field and give them the edge on Truex with newer tires, but the gamble was in vain as the race stayed green to its conclusion.

“We had a shot today and the call to pit was one thing, but I also think I was too hard on the car in the first couple of stages,” admitted Harvick. “We started struggling with the brakes and so I drove deeper into the corners and that started to burn the rear tires. A few things compounded and didn’t work out to win the race.”

Truex cruised to the checkered flag 11 seconds ahead of Harvick for his third of the season and the 18th of his Cup career. Bowyer would hold on to third while Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five.

“All in all, there were three cars that were the class of the field and I am proud that we were one of them,” said Bowyer. “It is kind of frustrating that we weren’t the one over in Victory Lane, but he (Truex) had such an advantage on the tires at the end.”

The victory was sweet revenge for Truex after Harvick claimed the win at Sonoma last year when Truex won the first two stages of the race only to suffer an engine failure in the final laps.

“I thought a lot about losing that race last year and it hurt for a long time,” said Truex, who also won at Sonoma in 2013. “To be able to come here this year and get it back is really nice!”

Kyle Busch now leads the 2018 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup standings by a 696 to 624 margin over Harvick as the series next heads to Chicagoland Speedway for the Overton’s 400 on July 1st.

On Saturday, Will Rodgers held off Eric Almirola and William Byron to claim the victory in the K&N Pro West Series Carneros 200.