Martin Truex Jr achieves record dominance in NASCAR's Charlotte 600
Martin Truex Jr put his early season bad luck well behind him with a dominant win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup's 600-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Possible victories slipped through his fingers at Daytona, Texas and Dover earlier in the year, but nothing and nobody could get close to Truex on Sunday night.
He began the race on pole in his Furniture Row Racing Toyota, and would have gone unchallenged for the majority of the evening if not for a late charge from Kevin Harvick.
Truex broke the Cup record for most laps led during a race at Charlotte, leading all but eight of the 400, during which Jimmie Johnson inherited the lead temporarily during pitstops.
Even more impressively, his 588 miles led is the most ever in one race in the history of NASCAR.
With his win, Truex joins Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth in the provisional Chase field.
The fight for best of the rest was largely contested by Johnson, Harvick and Joey Logano. The latter narrowly got past Johnson during the pitstop window of lap 166-168, but at the next round of stops, Logano received a drive-through penalty for his pit crew coming over the wall too early, putting him a lap down and eliminating him from the hunt for the lead.
It made for a stark contrast to Logano's race at Charlotte a week prior, where he scooped a $1million prize in the All-Star race, but his loss was Johnson's gain, and the Hendrick Motorsports man seized second place.
Traffic towards the end of the race began to slow the leader slightly, and Johnson closed up to within half a second.
But Johnson too encountered the traffic, and a late turn of pace from Harvick got him past, and into second.
It was then Harvick's turn to set about trying to catch Truex, but nothing could touch the Furniture Row Racing machine, and he finished around two and a half seconds ahead of his rival.
RESULTS - 400 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 3h44m05.s |
2 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 2.572s |
3 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4.591s |
4 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6.406s |
5 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 7.221s |
6 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 7.221s |
7 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10.526s |
8 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 11.493s |
9 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 14.087s |
10 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 16.084s |
11 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 18.153s |
12 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 19.426s |
13 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 24.648s |
14 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 24.824s |
15 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 26.477s |
16 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 1 Lap |
17 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 1 Lap |
18 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 Lap |
19 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 1 Lap |
20 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 3 Laps |
21 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 4 Laps |
22 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 Laps |
23 | Clint Bowyer | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 Laps |
24 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 5 Laps |
25 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 5 Laps |
26 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 5 Laps |
27 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 5 Laps |
28 | Regan Smith | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 5 Laps |
29 | Brian Scott | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 6 Laps |
30 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 6 Laps |
31 | David Ragan | BK Racing | Toyota | 7 Laps |
32 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 7 Laps |
33 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | Accident |
34 | Michael McDowell | Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 9 Laps |
35 | Cole Whitt | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 Laps |
36 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 Laps |
37 | Chris Buescher | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 12 Laps |
38 | Josh Wise | The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet | 13 Laps |
39 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 18 Laps |
40 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | Clutch |
LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Kevin Harvick | 457 |
2 | Kurt Busch | 421 |
3 | Jimmie Johnson | 409 |
4 | Kyle Busch | 405 |
5 | Carl Edwards | 404 |
6 | Brad Keselowski | 404 |
7 | Martin Truex Jr. | 381 |
8 | Chase Elliott | 374 |
9 | Joey Logano | 373 |
10 | Matt Kenseth | 347 |
11 | Denny Hamlin | 345 |
12 | Austin Dillon | 344 |
13 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 341 |
14 | Jamie McMurray | 318 |
15 | Ryan Blaney | 309 |
16 | Ryan Newman | 309 |
17 | A.J. Allmendinger | 308 |
18 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 299 |
19 | Trevor Bayne | 291 |
20 | Kasey Kahne | 290 |
21 | Kyle Larson | 271 |
22 | Paul Menard | 257 |
23 | Danica Patrick | 236 |
24 | Greg Biffle | 230 |
25 | Clint Bowyer | 229 |
26 | Aric Almirola | 228 |
27 | Landon Cassill | 216 |
28 | Casey Mears | 195 |
29 | Brian Scott | 190 |
30 | David Ragan | 171 |
31 | Regan Smith | 161 |
32 | Michael McDowell | 161 |
33 | Matt DiBenedetto | 150 |
34 | Chris Buescher | 145 |
35 | Tony Stewart | 111 |
PROVISIONALLY INTO CHASE SO FAR
Kyle Busch (3 wins), Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski (2 wins), Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr (1 win)

Previous article
Stewart-Haas's Harvick told Kahne he wouldn't take his NASCAR seat
Next article
Pocono NASCAR Sprint Cup race postponed to Monday due to rain

About this article
Series | NASCAR |
Martin Truex Jr achieves record dominance in NASCAR's Charlotte 600
Trending
Why a British prospect is trying to make it in NASCAR
There has never been a full-time British driver in the NASCAR Cup. But Alex Sedgwick, who is rising through the stock car ranks, wants that to change and could be a trailblazer for European talents to reach the top echelons of the NASCAR ladder
How Earnhardt’s death changed American motorsport
It's 20 years since legendary driver Dale Earnhardt Sr died at the Daytona 500, but the legacy of his crash continues today through the pioneering safety work done by NASCAR
The NASCAR subplots to keep an eye on in 2021
This weekend's Daytona 500 kickstarts a NASCAR Cup season that promises plenty of intrigue courtesy of new owners and a refreshed calendar. Here's what you need to know ahead of the new season
How a second-chance NASCAR ace is rebuilding his career
From a disgraced NASCAR exile, Kyle Larson has been given a shot at redemption by the powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports squad. Replacing seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson is no easy billing, but Larson has every intention of repaying the team's faith
Autosport's top 5 NASCAR machines
The American stock car scene is more famous for its close racing and occasional punch-ups, but there have been some fantastic machines too. As part of Autosport's 70th anniversary celebrations in 2020, we picked out five of its best
Why NASCAR's latest second-generation champion is just getting started
Chase Elliott's late charge to the 2020 NASCAR Cup title defied predictions that it would be a Kevin Harvick versus Denny Hamlin showdown. While the two veterans are showing no signs of slowing down, Elliott's triumph was a window into NASCAR's future
Why Johnson’s playoff failure won’t tarnish his legacy
The last season of a retiring NASCAR great has shown promise, and may have resulted in another playoff push without small issues outside his control. 2020 won't be the year Jimmie Johnson would have wanted, but it won't be what he is remembered for
Why a Le Mans winner is heading into the “unknown world” of NASCAR
Comparing Porsche's 919 HYBRID LMP1 to NASCAR is motorsport's equivalent of apples and oranges, but this weekend one of Weissach's top works aces will pit his skills against the regulars and revive the tradition of the 'road-course ringer'