Martin Truex, Jr. Scores Dominant Coca Cola 600 Win

Martin Truex, Jr. wins his first race of the season

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Following race after race of coming so close and falling short time and time again, Martin Truex, Jr. finally got the monkey off his back and broke through for his first victory of the season – and he did it with a dominating race for the record books.

Truex, Jr. led 392 of 400 laps to win Sunday night's Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, setting the record for the most laps led in the 57-year history of the event.

Kevin Harvick was second, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski.

The win was the fourth of Truex's career and ended a 34-race winless drought for Truex, Jr. – and earned him a ticket into the field for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Truex, Jr. had come close to winning this race a year ago, but got bit on fuel mileage late in the race.

This time around, he played the fuel mileage game to perfection.

"Just kind of sinking in now, you know? We won the 600. It feels awesome – this is one everybody wants to win," said Truex, Jr. "I'm so proud. It really stung last year when we lost this one to fuel mileage after running that good, but I'm telling you we're going to win a lot of races."

Truex, Jr.'s run marked the most laps and miles led by a single driver in a NASCAR event, shattering the previous marks of 502.5 miles and 335 laps set by Jim Paschal in the 1967 running of the 600.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"] "It's insane to think about. Nobody else has ever done that," said Truex of setting the record. "There's so many greats in this sport, so many huge accomplishments that are in the record books. You know, just for me to be on one of them is just incredible. I'm really proud."

Since finishing runner-up in the season-opening Daytona 500, Truex has yet to record a single top-five finish, despite leading the most laps at Texas and Kansas.

Then, two weeks ago at Dover, Truex looked to be on his way to victory when lost the lead on a late pit stop and then got tangled up in late-race crash with Jimmie Johnson.

"I don't know when our luck will change, all I know is that we're bringing really fast cars to the track and contending for the win," Truex said after the Dover race. "It's got to turn around, we're too good of a team not to have a victory by now."

Now, finally, it seems their luck has turned around.

"I had confidence. I had faith. I had confidence in my team," said Truex, Jr. "I've got a lot of great people behind me. Sherry's (Pollex, girlfriend) – she gives me a lot of inspiration and we just keep fighting. We never give up. We never quit."

Truex, Jr. (right) leads Jimmie Johnson on a late-race restart

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Truex, Jr, was passed just once under green flag conditions when Johnson got by on the outside following a restart on lap 344, but even that pass only lasted two laps before Truex powered back to the front of the field.

"I kind of felt like he was playing with us. He was so fast," said Johnson. "I would flatfoot (Turns) 1 and 2, and have a nose on him, and he would drive right back by me into Turn 3

"I'm happy for Martin. That team and those guys worked awfully hard to get where they're at. I mean they have had a few runs where they have just been the class of the field and things have kept them from Victory Lane. Tonight he wasn't going to be denied there was no way around that."

After he pulled back out front, Truex led the rest of the way and stretched his fuel for the final 56 laps to take the checkered flag for his first ever Charlotte victory.

Harvick, who fought an ill-handling race car all night, managed to get past Johnson with about 50 laps left, but had nothing to challenge Truex – finishing more than 2.5 second behind the leader.

Kevin Harvick rallied to a second-place finish

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"I saw (Truex, Jr.) for about 50 miles or 75 miles. The rest of the night I never saw him," said Harvick. "I was back there swatting flies in the middle of the pack. I didn't have a lot of time to see the 78 (Truex, Jr.).

"We struggled the first 450 miles, but they kept swinging at it and were finally able to find some tire pressures that were better. I was just happy we were competitive at the end of the race. We had a 10^th place car and they turned it into a car capable of racing for the win. That is pretty awesome."

Joey Logano and Paul Menard were the only other drivers to lead a lap – both during cycles of green-flag pit stops.

No one else was able to come close to Truex, Jr. on the racetrack – except Johnson.

"Well, (Johnson) passed me for about 100 feet. I had to give him something for being a good sport," Truex joked. "I just wanted to give him a taste of what it might feel like to lead this thing.

"It all worked out for us tonight. You try to put yourself in those positions each and every weekend and try to do that on every single restart, and it just doesn't always work out. Sometimes you don't have the car. Sometimes somebody else's car is just that much better, so I just put it all together tonight, and it feels damned good."

Race Results

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