photo credit: Instagram

Martin Truex Jr. came into Sunday’s race at the 1.5 mile Chicagoland Speedway having his greatest season to date. The 36 year old from Mayetta, New Jersey had never experienced a multiple winning season until this year. Truex had two victories already in his pocket before Sunday’s race as winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway back in May as well as the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway just 15 days ago.

From the drop of the green flag, Martin Truex Jr. had a blistering fast Toyota but an unexpected flat tire forced the Furniture Row Racing team to make an unscheduled pit stop. Truex would fall a lap down and spend a quarter of the race recovering. He battled his way back and on the last restart was able to take the lead and the win. This type of never give up attitude is what could win Martin Truex Jr. his first Sprint Cup title.

Martin Truex Jr. victory at Chicagoland is his career best third Sprint Cup Series win of 2016 and the sixth victory of his career. With this opening round triumph, he clinches a spot in the next round of The Chase.

Below are highlights and turn by turn action from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. Race recapped by Last Lap Insider.

Pre-Race – Before the race started, Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick both had to start at the rear of the field. Harvick had to go to the back because of unapproved body adjustment, while Kyle Larson had to start at the rear due to his team changing the transmission in the No.42 Chevrolet.

Lap 1/267 – The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway is green. Kyle Busch, who was awarded the pole position due to qualifying being rained out, leads Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin into turn 1.

Kyle Busch leads lap 1. Denny Hamlin passes Brad Keselowski for the 2nd spot.

Lap 23/267 – Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson, who had to start at the rear of the field, have made their way up to 10th and 19th.

Martin Truex Jr. has passed Kyle Busch for the lead.

Lap 28/267 – The top 5 – 78, 18, 2, 48, 11.

Lap 39/267 – Brad Keselowski easily passes Rowdy for 2nd.

Lap 50/267 – The first caution has come out for a rogue tire rolling on to the infield from pit road. The tire belonged to the No.43 team of Aric Almirola so he will have to make a pass through penalty.

With this caution coming out during green-flag pit stops, a number of drivers were caught one lap down including Kevin Harvick. Jimmie Johnson will be the new race leader on the restart. Kevin Harvick is now 21st one lap down.

Lap 73/267 – While Martin Truex Jr. is running 2nd, he unfortunately has to make an unscheduled pit stop due to a flat tire. The Furniture Row Racing Toyota has dropped to 22nd one lap down.

Carl Edwards has started to complain about a vibration in the front of his racecar. It could be a possible loose wheel.

Lap 85/267 – The top 20 – 48, 2, 24, 18, 22, 88, 5, 1, 11, 19, 20, 47, 3, 41, 42, 21, 15, 31, 14, 78. Harvick is still 21st one lap behind.

Lap 95/267 – Denny Hamlin radioed to his crew chief that his engine is “changing tones”. There might be an engine issue for the No.11 FedEx machine.

Lap 103/267 – Green flag pit stops have begun with Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson all coming in. Chase Elliott says he loves his car but his water temperature gauge has broken.

Lap 115/267 – After green flag pit stops, Jimmie Johnson continues to lead.

Lap 120/267 – Brian Scott spins coming off turn 4 bringing out the second caution of the race. This caution will put Martin Truex Jr. back on the lead lap as he was the first car one lap down when the yellow flag waved. This caution also helped Tony Stewart who was a few laps away from falling a lap down.

Lap 125/267 – On the restart, Jimmie Johnson gets loose off turn 2 but is able to withhold the lead from his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott. Harvick is still one lap down to the leaders. Harvick will need a caution to fly in order to get back on the lead lap.

Lap 140/267 – The top 20 – 48, 24, 2, 18, 22, 11, 42, 5, 1, 88, 21, 41, 78, 31, 19, 3, 20, 14, 47, 4.

Lap 171/267 – Alex Bowman, who is filling in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. this week, felt a vibration in his car so he makes an early green flag pit stop.

Lap 174/267 – On the second round of green flag pit stops, Kyle Busch gets caught for speeding. He had to make a pass through penalty.

Lap 183/267 – A few laps ago, Chase Elliott had taken the lead away from Jimmie Johnson and has now opened a two-second gap on the Lowe’s Chevy.

Lap 190/267 – The third caution has waved for debris on the backstretch. Tony Stewart gets the lucky dog. All the leaders come in for pit stops with Chase Elliott, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin leading the field off pit lane.

50 laps to go – Chase Elliott continues to lead Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski.

Martin Truex Jr., who has battled his way back from being a lap down, is now the fastest car on the race track in 5th. Surprisingly, Kevin Harvick is still trapped one lap down in 19th. He still needs a yellow flag in order for his day to turn around.

35 laps to go – Martin Truex Jr. has worked his way up to 3rd continuing to be the fastest car on the track. Chase Elliot still leads with Jimmie Johnson 2nd.

32 laps to go – Green flag stops have begun. Jimmie Johnson is one of the first cars to peel off and his pit lane. A massive mistake by Johnson as he gets nabbed for speeding on pit road exit. Johnson must come back for a costly drive threw penalty.

One lap later, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. come in to pit.

18 laps to go – Alex Bowman stayed out hoping for the caution but it would not fall in his favor. Chase Elliott is again the leader with Martin Truex Jr. 2nd, 1.5 seconds behind the rookie.

7 laps to go – Kyle Larson makes an unscheduled pit stop. It’s a good thing he did. After his crew examined the tires, It was determined Larson did have a tire going soft.

4 laps to go – It was looking like young Chase Elliott was poised for his first career Sprint Cup Series victory when the yellow flag waved for the No.95 of Michael Mcdowell blowing a tire. Bits of rubber and sheet metal covered turns 3 and 4. NASCAR had no choice but to throw the caution. The race would now head into overtime.

All of the leaders came to pit road with Martin Truex Jr. beating Chase Elliott off pit lane. Elliott came in as the leader, but his pit crew had a slightly slower stop then the No.78’s handing the lead to Truex.

Ryan Blaney, Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards did not pit under this caution making them the top three leaders for this overtime restart with 2 circuits remaining. Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott will restart 4th and 5th.

Overtime Restart – As the field took the green flag on the overtime restart, Martin Truex Jr. wasted no time pulling to the outside and sailing around Kasey Kahne taking the 2nd position. Martin Truex Jr. cought race leader Ryan Blaney entering turn 3 and easily took off past him for the lead coming to the white flag. Once the No.78 cleared the No.21 of Blaney, it was Truex’s race.

Last Lap – Martin Truex Jr. comes off turn 4 with a commanding lead over second place Joey Logano to win the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400” at the Chicagoland Speedway.

With this victory he also clinches a spot in the next round of The Chase for the Sprint Cup Series championship.

Joey Logano comes home 2nd and Chase Elliott, who dominated the latter half of this race, will have to settle for 3rd. Another great race for Chase Elliott that comes up a little short.

Full Race Results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Joey Logano
3. Chase Elliott – LLI Dark Horse Pick.
4. Ryan Blaney
5. Brad Keselowski – LLI Pick To Win 1.
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Kasey Kahne
8. Kyle Busch
9. Matt Kenseth
10. Alex Bowman – In the No. 88.
11. Jamie McMurray
12. Jimmie Johnson
13. Kurt Busch
14. Austin Dillon
15. Carl Edwards
16. Tony Stewart
17. AJ Allmendinger
18. Kyle Larson – LLI Pick To Win 2.
19. Ryan Newman
20. Kevin Harvick
21. Paul Menard
22. Clint Bowyer
23. Trevor Bayne
24. Danica Patrick
25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
26. Greg Biffle
27. Ty Dillon – In the No. 7.
28. Chris Buescher
29. Landon Cassill
30. Matt Dibenedetto
31. Brian Scott
32. Aric Almirola
33. Michael Annett
34. Casey Mears
35. David Ragan
36. Cole Whitt
37. Michael Mcdowell
38. Josh Wise
39. Reed Sorenson
40. Joey Gase

One Chase race down and nine to go. With Martin Truex Jr. punching his automatic ticket to the next round of The Chase, he will have nothing to lose in the next two races. With Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson and Chris Buecsher finishing 14th or worse in Sunday’s race at Chicagoland, they will need to step up their game in order to make the next round of NASCAR’s version of the playoffs.

Update: After Martin Truex Jr. and the No.78 Toyota won Sunday’s first race of The Chase, his car failed post-race laser inspection. The No.48 Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson also failed post-race laser inspection. Penalties will be announced later this week.

The next race on the Sprint Cup Series calendar is the New England 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway September 25, at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN. For more Sprint Cup updates check out @lastlapinsider on Instagram.

Tags Chicagoland Martin Truex Jr. Motorsports NASCAR NASCAR Talk Racing Sprint Cup The Chase