Truex Scores His Best Finish of 2017 at Pocono Raceway

Ryan Truex earned a season-high third-place finish at Pocono Raceway in the Overton’s 150. The driver of the No. 16 ShopRite Toyota Tundra also advanced in the point standings and now holds the eighth and final spot on the playoff grid.

Truex posted the ninth-quickest laps in both of Friday’s practice sessions at the “Tricky Triangle” and delivered an impressive fourth-place qualifying effort on Saturday morning. At the drop of the green flag, the New Jersey native solidified himself as a legitimate contender as one of the top four trucks that distanced themselves from the rest of the field in Stage 1. Truex finished the opening 15-lap stage in fourth, earning seven championship points, and came to pit road for two right-side tires under the ensuing caution.

Truex restarted second on lap 21, and would finish Stage 2 in second on lap 30. The 10-lap run netted Truex nine addition points and was called to pit road under the caution flag by crew chief Scott Zipadelli under that caution. On lap 36, Truex restarted 10th with four fresh tires and avoided trouble on the intense restarts to put himself in contention. During the final 16-lap run to the checkers, Truex made quick work of the competition, and advanced from seventh to finish third behind the race winner, Christopher Bell. The third-place result is Truex’s third top-five finish of the 2017 season, and holds a playoff spot with four races remaining before the playoffs.

Ryan Truex Quote:

“I wish we had more (laps). It was just tough to pass. Our ShopRite Tundra was really fast. I got to thank Scott (Zipadelli) and all these guys, everybody back at the shop. It was a lot of hard work to get this truck on the track. This is a brand-new truck. Honestly, after we wrecked our truck at Kentucky, that was our best one, we had to thrash to get this ready. My hat’s off to them. I’m just lucky I got to drive it. Restarts were really important. I felt like I just didn’t have the right lane at the end there and spent a lot of time catching up. I finally got to the 27 (truck) and the 4 (truck) was already gone. If we could have had a late restart, we probably could have had something for them. We got a Toyota top three (finish), so that’s pretty cool too.”

Hattori Racing PR