Truex triumphs at Pocono

LONG POND, Pa. - With Martin Truex Jr. holding a slim lead on the front of the pack, the Furniture Row Racing team prepared for one last pit stop Sunday.

One team member bobbed up and down, shaking his arms. Another stretched and craned his neck over the divider to see if Truex was close. When Truex slowed into pit road, Sherry Pollex, Truex's girlfriend who is in remission from ovarian cancer and underwent chemotherapy on Monday, stood and nervously watched the pit crew work on Truex's car.

Four tire changes and a fuel-up later, Truex was the first out of pit road, leading to a measured celebration from his pit crew. Thirty-eight laps later, Truex won the Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 at Pocono Raceway for his first victory of the season, leading to an emphatic celebration with his entire team.

Truex, a Mayetta, N.J., native driving the No. 78 car, started third and led for 97 laps. He was trailed by Kevin Harvick in second, Jimmie Johnson in third and Joey Logano in fourth. Jeff Gordon was 14th.

"I was pretty calm most of the way," said Cole Pearn, Truex's crew chief. "Until we came out of Turn 3 and they started cheering and I started to get a little choked up at that point."

Since Truex's last NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win on June 23, 2013, his life has taken many turns, on and off the track.

His first season with Furniture Row in 2014 was turbulent and yielded unsatisfactory results. Then Pollex was diagnosed with cancer in August, and Truex contemplated a break from racing while chemotherapy took both her energy and hair.

But Truex drew inspiration from Pollex's fight. Pearn was officially promoted to crew chief in December and they found chemistry right away. The start of 2015 produced a new driver and a new car.

Pollex "showed me what she was made of and I was like, wow, if she can do that, I can do this. This is easy," said Truex, who has finished out of the top 10 just once this season.

"When you get through something like that it makes you pretty damn proud of what you accomplished, and this is easily the biggest win of my career."

Truex had led in laps in the last three races entering Sunday. His biggest obstacle Sunday came after he pitted during a caution and fell to 16th, but he flew back into the top five just two laps off the restart and was in control for the race's latter half.

After crossing the finish line and spinning his car in celebration, Truex stood on his car and raised his arms as a cloud of smoke surrounded him. In the Furniture Row pit box, Pollex wiped away tears before hugging Pearn.

In Victory Lane minutes later, Pollex pushed through the crowd around the car and Truex wrapped his arms around her. Pollex buried her head in Truex's neck and he kissed her on the cheek. They had finally won.

"Obviously you always want to win," Harvick said. "But when you can see something come full circle like their situation, it makes you proud to know them and be a part of the sport in general, to see how they've supported Sherry and all the things that they've gone through."