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Martin Truex Jr., a contender Sunday for his second Sonoma Raceway victory, exited the Toyota/Save Mart 350 early with engine trouble.
The powerplant in Truex’s Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota began to sour after he made his final pit stop while leading with 70 of the 110 laps complete. By Lap 86, he pulled his car to pit road and then behind the wall, relegated to a 37th-place finish in the 38-car field.
“For about the past 20 laps, I’ve been on seven cylinders,” Truex said of his sputtering engine. “After we made that last pit stop, when we lost the lead to (Kevin) Harvick, soon as I left pit road, I lost a cylinder. I was surprised we were able to keep up with them as well as we could on seven, but just shows how strong the car was. Just wasn’t meant to be today.”
Truex, a two-time winner in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series this season, had led a race-high 25 laps before parking in the garage. The 36-year-old driver also prevailed in the opening stage in the race, collecting his series-best 11th stage win this season.
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Truex remained second in the overall series standings, just 13 points behind Kyle Larson, who started from the pole and finished 26th.
Truex scored his only victory at the 1.99-mile road course in 2013.