NASCAR
Martin Truex Jr. Wins 2nd Career Coca-Cola 600 After Early Struggles
Despite early wall contact, Martin Truex, Jr. and his Joe Gibbs Racing 19 team ended NASCAR’s longest night as winners. After an early tire failure, Truex came back to win Stage 3, as well as take the overall win. Sunday was one of the hottest Coke 600 races in history, and Truex Jr. was able to outlast the field. This is Martin’s 2nd victory in the Coca-Cola 600, after his dominating run in 2016.
Comers and Goers in Stage 1
For the 60th running of the Coca-Cola 600, the race had its youngest ever polesitter, 21 year old William Byron. The Charlotte native in the 24 car would coincidentally lead the first 24 laps, until the first caution. Under the guidance of crew chief Chad Knaus, William Byron would have a strong night at Charlotte.
Toyota Tire Issues Plague Stage 1
Stage 1 at Charlotte had an unprecedented amount of cautions, with 5 pauses in the racing action. 3 of these problems were similar accidents all involving a Toyota Camry. Starting early on lap 22, Erik Jones had a right front tire blow and hit the turn 4 wall. Unfortunately for Jones, this would lead to an early exit from the 600 mile marathon. The 20 would finish in 40th after this crash, far from where he was running in 12th.
Under the caution for Jones’ crash, Kyle Busch took the lead on pit road. When racing resumed, the 18 scooted away to a lead of just under a second. Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, and Martin Truex Jr. would all move forward in this run. They would all eventually be the top 10 by the Stage end.
As Stage 1 neared its halfway point on lap 48, another Toyota would have a tire failure. The victim here would be Matt Dibenedetto in the 95, who also had an early DNF. Despite 2 Toyotas running in the top 10, 2 more would also finish 39th and 40th.
Back underway on lap 54, Busch lost the lead to Harvick. They swapped the top spot among themselves for a few laps. Truex would also join the fray, moving up on the restart to put the ‘Big 3’ from 2018 in the top 3. Martin Truex Jr. would finally take the lead from Harvick on lap 63. Once the 19 maneuvered his way to the lead, shades of Truex’s domination from 2016 were evident. However, Martin’s day would get a lot tougher in just a matter of moments.
Troubles For Race Leader Martin Truex Jr.
While leading on lap 73, the 19 of Martin Truex, Jr. would be the third Toyota with a right front tire failure, as he pounded the turn 4 wall. Clearly the Toyota’s setups were too aggressive. Goodyear said they had too much load and camber in their front ends. Thankfully for Truex, he would be able to continue on but with damage.
Stage 1 at Charlotte would see 2 more brief caution flags before the lap 100 break. On lap 85, the 7th-place running Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was spun across the turf by Kyle Busch, as the 17 on older tires was blocking the 18. Also on lap 93, the 8 of Daniel Hemric would get turned across Clint Bowyer into the turn 4 wall. Up front, Keselowski and Harvick were battling for the lead and the Stage win. After the last caution for Hemric, the 2 was able to inch ahead of a 3-wide battle for 2nd to secure the Stage 1 win.
Hamlin Starts Stage 2 Up Front
When racing restarted for Stage 2, Kyle Busch got loose off of turn 2, opening the door for his teammate Denny Hamlin to steal the lead. Hamlin would lead for more than 20 laps, until Chase Elliott took the top spot away. Stage 3 would be broken up by 3 yellow flags all for single-car incidents. Lap 128 saw Chris Buescher tag the wall, and on this restart Keselowski retook the lead. Just past midway through Stage 2 on lap 162, the 4th Toyota tire failure of the night would affect Denny Hamlin, derailing a strong run. Hamlin would be able to continue, but he had to make up ground. Lastly, Stage 2 would have a late yellow when Ryan Preece’s right front tire also blew. This was the first non-Toyota tire issue of the night on lap 190.
Stage 2 would end with a 7-lap dash, and Alex Bowman initially had the point. Both on old tires, Bowman and William Byron swapped the lead among themselves for a few laps. The 88 would pull away, but just like the finish at Kansas, Keselowski would catch and pass him late. Keselowski would take the Stage 2 win over Bowman, sweeping the first 2 Stages in the 600.
Halftime Break to Honor Fallen Troops for Memorial Day
The Sunday before Memorial Day is known as the greatest day in racing with the Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500, and the Coca-Cola 600. However, the larger significance of this weekend is to honor fallen troops who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. NASCAR honors the troops unlike any other sport, and it was taken to a new level for the 60th Coke 600. With the race halfway complete after Stage 2, a red flag was thrown and the field went down pit road single-file. For 30 seconds, all of the racecar’s engines were turned off and there was a moment of silence at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This was a great idea developed by NASCAR and Charlotte Motor Speedway that we can only hope this patriotic tradition continues on for years to come.
Toyotas Out Front For Stage 3
Back to racing for Stage 3, Kyle Busch’s car came to life. Busch was going for 2-straight victories in the Coke 600, after his dominating 2018 win. Just past halfway in this Stage, Busch had a 3.3 second lead over Truex-2 of the past 3 winners of the 600. The lone caution flag of Stage 3 would involve one of these Toyotas on lap 251. While running 2nd, Truex was trying to pass beneath the lapped car of Bayley Currey in turn 2. Truex’s car went wide and got into Currey’s 52, sending his Ford spinning. Currey suffered major damage and would not continue on, while Truex went on to gain the lead on pit road. Truex said post race that this incident was not anything intentional. The 52 evidently took all of the air off of his nose and Truex pushed up the track into him.
Teammates Busch and Truex would swap the lead back and forth for a few laps, until the 19 finally pulled away on lap 260. Truex’s lead would grow and grow, eventually becoming the widest margin of the night. The 19 would cruise to a Stage 3 win by over 4 seconds, only his second Stage win of 2019.
Near Miss Early in Final Stage
Under the third and final Stage break caution, the 9 of Chase Elliot leapfrogged Busch and Truex for the lead in the pits. While the 19 did not go away easily on the restart, the 9 held serve and eventually got clear. Moments after however, the caution would fly for a spinning Kurt Busch. As the 1 was spinning, the 18 and the 4 just barely avoided making heavy contact with him. Kurt simply got loose underneath Ryan Blaney in turn 4, and nearly took out 2 of the strongest cars of the night. The 1 and the 12 were racing for 5th on lap 308, so the fact that everyone avoided Kurt is amazing.
Chaos Ensues on Restart
After Kurt’s trip through the turf, the following restart would see the intensity ratchet up. On older tires, the 42 of Kyle Larson fell back like a rock after pushing the 9 clear to the lead. Larson would see his chances of sweeping May at Charlotte quickly evaporate. In turn 2 on lap 315, the 42 would get extremely loose and spin to the inside. Collected in the melee were Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Ryan Preece, and Clint Bowyer. For Larson and Austin Dillon, their nights would end early due to heavy damages.
Austin Dillon’s bid to race 900 miles after Saturday’s Xfinity race would come up short in both races. He was forced to exit Saturday’s race early due to overheating, but he was fine to race on Sunday. He had a solid position late for a top 10 run, but it came to a crashing end.
Elliott Looks Strong Late
When racing resumed after the big crash on lap 324, the 9 of Chase Elliott was able to hold his lead over Truex. Elliott’s 9 car looked as strong as ever during this run, as he was going for his second win of 2019. Had Chase won, it would have amazingly been the first ever Coke 600 win for an Elliott. Though he was close, Chase’s Hall-of-Fame father Bill Elliott never saw victory in the marathon race. The 9 car would hold the lead until Truex muscled his way by with some contact on lap 343.
Penske-Versus-Truex
With Truex out front, the win was seemingly laps away from the 19. However, the Penske duo of Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney was chasing down the JGR Toyota. Both Penske cars were trying to help Roger Penske sweep the day, after Simon Pagenaud’s win at the Indianapolis 500. However, the 2 Fords were racing each other too hard, and Truex slowly pulled away. However, a caution brought out by Denny Hamlin spinning on lap 359 would give the Penske cars and the rest of the field a chance at beating Truex.
This caution came out just after the final cycle of green flag pit stops, but many still made their way in for service. This included Truex, Elliott, and Blaney. On the lap 365 restart, Truex got a monster jump and was long gone by turn 2. Truex would build up another large lead until the final caution came with 8 laps remaining.
Split Strategy Leads to Insane Final Restart
Keselowski spinning in turn 4 and onto pit road would be the cause for this last caution flag. After dominating the first 2 Stages, the 2’s performance dropped off significantly into the night time, as he ended up finishing 19th. Under the caution, many of the lead lap cars chose to pit for new tires. However, David Ragan did not pit and would line up as the leader. Ryan Newman would be 2nd on 2 tires, as he barely beat the 19 out of the pits for the 5-lap dash to the finish.
With slower cars starting up front, the leaders went 3 and 4-wide on the opening lap. Kyle Busch tried splitting Ragan and Newman in the middle, but Truex hung a left to pass all 3 of them on the inside line entering turn 3. Meanwhile, Logano made a simultaneous charge in the high line, and Truex slid up barely clear of the 22 by the start/finish line. The 2 leaders actually made contact in turn 4, sending Truex sideways for a moment. After this amazing first lap, Martin Truex, Jr. was able to hold off Logano and everyone else for his 3rd win of 2019, and 2nd in the Coca-Cola 600.
Other Notables in the Top 10
Behind the top 2 of Martin Truex, Jr. and Joey Logano came Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Chris Buescher, Alex Bowman, Jimmie Johnson, William Byron, and Kevin Harvick. With his 5th place finish, Stenhouse scored his first-ever top 5 on a 1.5 mile track, by far his strongest run on an intermediate. Buescher also had a career-high race on a 1.5 miler, coming in 6th. All 4 Hendrick Motorsports cars came home in the top 10 for the first time since 2016, as their team has found more speed and performance.
While not in the top 10, we will still give a big shoutout to Corey Lajoie in the GoFas Racing 32 Ford, who finished the Coca-Cola 600 in 12th. Lajoie, who scored his career-best finish outside of superspeedways, called this race “A hell of a day. We had 25th place speed but put ourselves in the right position and on the last restart made it happen. 12th is like 3 wins for us, because anytime we finish 22nd we’re slapping hands and smiling. 12th is an anomaly but we’ll take it. I’m pretty pumped up, this is the best I’ve ever run on a mile-and-a-half by far. It just goes to show what kind of cars GoFas can put on the racetrack, they believe in me as a driver. We’re making a lot of guys on the other end of the garage pretty pissed when the 32 passes them.”
Significance of the Win for Martin Truex, Jr.
This win in the Coca-Cola 600 is Martin Truex, Jr.’s 22nd career Cup Series victory. This stat ties both Hall-of-Famer Terry Labonte and 2018 champion Joey Logano. Truex has 3 wins in 2019 as well as 3 victories at Charlotte Motor Speedway. 2 of his 3 Charlotte wins have come in the 600, both in the past 4 years. 3 wind in the career-high at a single track for Martin Truex Jr., a mark he now holds at both Charlotte and Dover. 3 wins is a season-high as the regular season is now halfway complete. Truex shares this honor with Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski, who are the top 3 in the projected Playoff standings. With the first half of the regular season in the books, the Playoff standings are sure to change drastically over the summer months.
How to Watch the Next Race
Stop number 14 for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is Pocono Raceway, for the Pocono 400. Coverage will be on Sunday, June 2, at 2 PM EST on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. With this new rules package, shifting is no longer an option at Pocono, which will lead to even crazier restarts. Tune in to see if Martin Truex, Jr. can go back-to-back in 2019 as well as at Pocono.
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Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo credit to NASCARMedia.
