Truex didn’t even take the lead for the first time until a lap 186 restart, when he blew past Matt Kenseth for the lead off the outside of turn two and started to showcase the kind of speed that won him six of the prior nine mile-and-a-half races this season.

Other than green flag pit stops and a slight challenge from Toyota teammate Matt Kenseth on a lap 239 restart, Truex was the commanding force for much of the second half of Sunday’s race.

He led a race-high 107 laps overall and appeared to be firmly in command after retaking the lead from Hamlin on the final restart of the day with 46 to go.

But for the first time in the playoffs, Truex’s long run speed wasn’t race-winning speed, as he faded in the final laps while Harvick rose to the occasion.

“I knew he was quicker once he got around the 11 (Hamlin). He started coming real fast and it was all I had to try and hold him back. We struggled a little bit on the long run today, which is typically where we’ve been our best, but (Harvick) seemed to be really good when he got out up towards the front.”

“We were good when we got out front in the middle of the race, but we just got too loose in those long runs. There’s only so much I can do on the inside, and with the 6 (Trevor Bayne) and some other dummy racing side-by-side in front of us … I was just way loose in traffic when I (would catch) somebody and I just got loose going into (turn) one and Harvick jumped to my outside. I think we could’ve held him off with a clear track, but we’ll go on to next week.”

Despite the disappointment of a runner-up finish, Truex was still able to take solace in the fact that he has clinched a spot in the Championship 4 on points, sitting 76 markers above the cutoff line with only Phoenix Int’l Raceway remaining in the third round before the title-decider in South Florida.

“It’s unbelievable,” Truex said of locking up a final round berth one week early. “This has been an amazing season. I love this team. We’re really excited about Homestead; we had a great test down there and I look forward to going down there and getting another win.”

Hamlin crossed the line third ahead of teammate and non-playoff driver Matt Kenseth, with Brad Keselowski rallying from an opening lap incident with Kyle Busch that left him nearly two laps down to complete the top five.

Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch and Erik Jones were the rest of the top-10.

Seven-time and defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, a seven-time Texas winner, struggled on speed all weekend long and finished a miserable 27th. He was three laps down and faces a must-win situation at Phoenix in order to fight for his record-setting eighth series title.

In fact, with Harvick’s win and Truex’s clinch on points, the five remaining playoff drivers who aren’t locked in — Hamlin, Keselowski, Blaney, Elliott and Logano — all only control their own destinies with a victory in the desert.

The penultimate round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs concludes with the

Full race results can be viewed on the next page…