Toyota Save Mart 350 2013 Results: Reaction, Leaders and Post-Race Analysis

Martin Truex Jr. won the Toyota Save Mart 350 on Sunday afternoon at Sonoma Raceway. The Sears Point, California, course is just one of two road courses on NASCAR's schedule, and this special event tests car and driver to the limit. 

For Truex Jr., it was his second career victory and first win since 2007, as noted by NASCAR:

As NASCAR on ESPN suggested, there was a lot on the line for a few teams vying for position in the Chase for the Cup: 

There was no shortage of compelling action on Sunday, and there was a bit of excitement before the race even began. With such a big field, the track was tight, and there were numerous crashes throughout the afternoon. 

Paulie Harraka and Alex Kennedy both suffered damage when Harraka ran into the back of Kennedy:

Bobby Labonte didn't even make it around the track one time and was forced to retire before ever getting started, as announced by JTG Daugherty Racing: 

Here's a look at how every driver fared on Sunday at the Sonoma Raceway:

Position	Driver	Car No.
1	Martin Truex Jr.	56
2	Jeff Gordon	24
3	Carl Edwards	99
4	Kurt Busch	78
5	Clint Bowyer	15
6	Kasey Kahne	5
7	Marcos Ambrose	9
8	Greg Biffle	16
9	Jimmie Johnson	48
10	Kevin Harvick	29
11	Joey Logano	22
12	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	88
13	Brian Vickers	55
14	Paul Menard	27
15	Ryan Newman	39
16	Casey Mears	13
17	Travis Kvapil	93
18	Boris Said	32
19	Matt Kenseth	20
20	Aric Almirola	43
21	Brad Keselowski	2
22	Ron Fellows	33
23	Denny Hamlin	11
24	David Gilliland	38
25	Jamie McMurray	1
26	David Reutimann	83
27	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	17
28	Tony Stewart	14
29	Danica Patrick	10
30	Justin Marks	7
31	Jeff Burton	31
32	Josh Wise	35
33	David Ragan	34
34	Juan Pablo Montoya	42
35	Kyle Busch	18
36	David Stremme	30
37	Victor Gonzalez Jr.	46
38	Tomy Drissi	87
39	Paulie Harraka	52
40	Alex Kennedy	19
41	Jacques Villeneuve	51
42	J.J. Yeley	37
43	Bobby Labonte	47

Order of finish courtesy of NASCAR.com

Race Highlights

Rain was a factor on Sunday, with a mild storm front hitting California's coastline just as the race began, as noted by meteorologist Brian Neudorff:

Though there wasn't enough rain to put a stop to the action, the wet track wreaked havoc all day long. It only took four laps for the first dust up, as Juan Pablo Montoya  wheel-hopped into Kyle Busch, causing him to spin out, as shown by NASCAR:

At one point, Kurt Busch talked about the water on the track, as noted by Lee Spencer of Fox Sports, saying, "It's like ice, there's water everywhere."

Marcus Ambrose took the lead from the opening lap and was in front for the first 18 laps. Busch began pestering him in Lap 18, as noted by NASCAR Stats, then took the lead with an impressive pass on Turn 4 in Lap 19, as shown by NASCAR:

Busch's lead didn't last long, however. After a lengthy caution due to rain on Lap 31, Busch went into pit row to fuel up and grab some new tires but was caught speeding, as noted by Motor Racing Network's Dustin Long. When he went back into the pit for his penalty, Busch was busted for speeding again:

By the time Busch got back into the race, he was sitting in 38th place—one lap down, as noted by SiriusXM NASCAR: 

While Busch was dealing with his issues, the rest of the field battled for first place. Martin Truex Jr. overtook Brad Keselowski in Lap 40 with a sweet pass to take the lead, as shown by NASCAR:

Danica Patrick ran into some trouble in Lap 62 when her left-rear tire went out. She spun out on Turn 10 and went into the barrier, as shown by NASCAR, forcing a caution:

Not long after, Tony Stewart got into Denny Hamlin after he wheel-hopped, bringing out the fifth caution of the day, as shown by NASCAR:

Upon the restart, it only took one turn to force the sixth caution of the day, as shown by NASCAR:

Fighting hard to get back into position, Kyle Busch had moved up into 15th place in Lap 82 when he was struck ever so slightly by Carl Edwards, as noted by the official Joe Gibbs Racing Twitter account. The resulting crash forced the seventh caution of the day:

With 10 laps to go, Truex Jr. had retaken the lead—and with just eight laps to go, he'd pushed his lead to over five seconds, as noted by NASCAR Stats:

In the end, after multiple cautions and wrecks, Truex Jr. conquered the field, the track and the weather to win his second career race on the NASCAR series.

Post-Race Analysis for Truex Jr.

A 13-time winner on the Nationwide Series, Truex Jr. hadn't seen much success on the Sprint Cup Series throughout his career.

According to NASCAR Stats, Truex hadn't won a race since his lone career victory at Dover in 2007—a span of 218 races:

For a man who has finished in the top five 13 times in the past three seasons before this win, Truex's victory serves as validation to his hard work and perseverance. As an added bonus, he qualified for the 2014 Sprint All-Star Race, as noted by NASCAR Stats:

He—along with the rest of the drivers—will now look ahead to the Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway next weekend. 

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