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Truex tames 'Tricky Triangle'

LONG POND - It was yet another exciting race day at Pocono International Raceway that saw a new winner and a new chase contender tame the "Tricky Triangle."

There were many favorites entering Sunday's Axalta 'We Paint Winners 400' but after the dust settled it was New Jersey native Martin Truex Jr. who came across the finish line in the top spot.It's been a difficult ride for Truex over the past few seasons inside and outside the race car. It was also evident after his win that the feeling in the air was pure joy from everybody from the fans to the teams in the garage area."I wanted to win for this team because I knew how good they were, how much they deserved it, the job they've been doing, and I've just honestly been so proud of their outlook on the way this year has gone.," said Truex. "They were excited. They knew we were going to get this win, and they knew we were going to get it soon, and they worked hard. They didn't lose focus of how we got to where we're at, and honestly, that's what pushed us over the edge and was able to make the difference today."Frankly, Truex dominated for most of the day, leading 97 of the 160 laps.A late restart at lap 144 showed the power that the Furniture Row Race team had as Truex pulled away from the pack pretty easily, obviously leading the rest of the way.Truex was by far the best on restarts all afternoon and was a big reason why he came home with the victory. Truex led every lap from lap 94 except for one."We had the right gear ratios today for that and I was fortunately able to do what I needed to do there," said Truex. "Had a good shove from the 22 once, which helped, and honestly, once we were able to put some cars between us and the 4 car, that's when I really just kind of settled in and got real comfortable because I knew he was the guy we were racing for the win."Truex's win was also special because his hometown in New Jersey is just two and a half hours from Long Pond.Truex was just a kid when he started attending races at Pocono, attending for the first time to watch his father race modifieds. Truex was able to get a win win at Dover back in 2007, which is slightly closer than Pocono to his hometown. Two out of his three career wins are at Sprint Cup tracks that are the closest to his hometown, which obviously means a lot to Truex."It's definitely neat because I just really enjoy coming up here. This is a great area," said Truex. I used to - I think the first time I came to the racetrack, I was four or five years old, and my dad was I don't even remember what year it was because I was so young, and my dad was running Race Champions here, modified race, and I remember going to that race. It's just a great feeling to get a win here."Kevin Harvick came home with yet another second place finish on Sunday. It was Harvick's 13th top 10 finish in 2015.Jimmie Johnson also had a solid day, coming home with a third place finish. It was Johnson's 18th top 10 finish in 27 races at Pocono.Rounding out the top five was Joey Logano and pole sitter Kurt Busch.Dale Earnhardt Jr. who swept both races at Pocono last summer finished 11th. Earnhardt Jr. was running in the top five, but made contact with teammate Kasey Kahne late in the race, which forced him to put and lose some spots.With the win, Truex Jr. has now moved up to second in the point standings behind Kevin Harvick.