MWR Pocono Race Report

• Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry - finished ninth, 20th in points.

• David Reutimann, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - finished 17th now 18th in points.

Martin Truex Jr. Race Summary: The black cloud that's hovered over the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS team for two months appeared during today's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway. But this time in the form of dark rain clouds versus bad luck. On the final pit stop crew chief Pat Tryson opted to take two tires and this allowed Truex to restart seventh with 23 laps remaining in the race. The two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion was able to hold off most of the field who took four tires on the final pit stop to cross the finish line ninth. This was Truex’s fifth top-10 finish of the season and he remains 20th in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to action next Sunday at Watkins Glen.

Truex: “It was okay. I guess ninth is a pretty decent result for our NAPA Toyota looking back on Friday and how bad we were when we got here. The guys worked hard all weekend. Like I said, we struggled on Friday, struggled during qualifying and worked real hard on Saturday throughout practice. We made a lot of head way. At the start of the race we weren’t very good throughout the race. A little bit of strategy played into it. We were sitting about 12th before we took the two tires, so we gained a few spots. We were about a 12th or 15th-place car and we finished ninth. That’s the kind of days we like to have and the kind of days we’ve needed to have for the last two months, we’ve just been caught in wrecks. I’m just glad we got a decent finish out of the NAPA Toyota and I’m proud of all the guys on the team.”

Truex Notes:

• Truex started 28th and finished ninth and is 20th in points.

• NAPA Toyota started to come to life at the 50-lap mark. Drove from 22nd to 17th.

• Truex Jr. and the No. 56 team broke into top-15 on lap 123.

• The No. 99 and No. 56 made contact on lap 132, but no major damage reported

• After pitting for four tires on lap 159, Truex took the restart and drove from 24th to 16th in one lap.

• The No. 56 was scored in 12th as the red flag flew on lap 166 for a multi-car crash.

• The “NAPA Know How” team took two tires on final pit stop which allowed Truex to jump in to the top 10

• The No. 56 team won the Mobil 1 Command Performance of the Race award

David Reutimann Race Summary: No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver David Reutimann fought hard all day to work his way through the field on Sunday at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. He raced his way from 24th up to 12th before a flurry of cautions toward the end of the race set up teams to take various strategies to try and gain track position. The No. 00 team continuously turned quick stops, but fell due to teams gambling on tires in favor of track position. Reutimann found himself in 20th position at the final restart on lap 179 and raced his way to 17th before the checked flag flew on lap 200. Reutimann remains 18th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings, trailing the top 12 by 183 points, with four races remaining before the Chase cutoff. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to action Sunday at Watkins Glen.

REUTIMANN: How was your car today?

"That was a tough day. I feel like I raced as hard as I could, we had a good Aaron's Dream Machine most of they day, but it just didn't work out for us. The weather made things a little crazy as far as strategy - some cars taking two tires, some taking four, some taking fuel only. We had a couple red flags, some rain. It seems like we had a little bit of everything today. I just wish we could have finished a little better. We'll keep working on it and try again next week."

Reutimann Notes:

• Reutimann started 24th and finished 17th.

• Reutimann raced his way from 24th to 18th in the first 15 laps prior to a competition caution

• The No. 00 raced its way to 16th by lap 90 and remained there until a lap 120 caution bunched the field

• The Aaron’s Dream Machine continued it’s march forward up to 12th position by lap 146

• Reutimann came to pit road for four tires in 13th position on lap 170, but various pit strategies by several teams returned the No. 00 to the track in 20th position.

• Reutimann restarted 20th on the final restart on lap 179 and improved to 17th by the checkered flag.

RACE NOTES:

• Greg Biffle recorded his first win of the year and the first Ford win of the year.

• Biffle snapped a 64-race winless streak.

• Top five order after Biffle: Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin.

• Kevin Harvick leads the point standings by 189 over Jeff Gordon

• The start of the race was delayed nearly one hour due to a rain shower shortly before the 1 p.m. scheduled start.

• NASCAR displayed the red flag for more than 28 minutes to clean up a hard wreck on lap 166

• Race took 3 hours, 46 minutes and 51 seconds and included five cautions for 31 laps.

• There were nine leaders and 19 lead changes.

• NASCAR estimated the race attendance at 100,000 fans.