Martin Truex Jr. overcame early damage in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday night to win his third race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
Early in the race, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver lost a right front tire, sending his Toyota Camry into the outside wall. The team made quick repairs to the vehicle and it was enough for Truex Jr. to drive up through the field to regain the lead. The Mayetta, NJ driver made a daring 4-Wide pass for the lead on the final restart with less than 10 laps to go to take the lead for the final time.
FOUR. WIDE.
— #NASCARSalutes (@NASCAR) May 27, 2019
Do not miss this finish on FOX! #CocaCola600 pic.twitter.com/72hGvHer69
Truex Jr. now has three wins in the last five races, one on the short track in Richmond, one at the Monster Mile in Dover, and now on a 1.5 mile racetrack at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Truex Jr.’s teammates didn’t have similar luck throughout the 600 mile race. Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin, and JGR affiliate Matt DiBenedetto all lost right front tires throughout the race. The incidents regulated DiBenedetto and Jones to 39th and 40th place finishes.
Hamlin was able to continue after the first tire issue. However, the Chesterfield, Virginia driver would lose a second right front tire and ultimately crash hard on the last lap of the race. After showing speed early, Kyle Busch was caught up in a crash with his brother Kurt Busch, yet was able to recover for a third place finish.
Race Notes from the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway
The Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway saw 16 cautions for 80 laps and concluded one of the biggest days in motorsports. The 600 mile race proved kind to smaller race teams who found themselves running in contention at the end of the race. After spinning out early in the race, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fought back for a Top 5 finish. Chris Buescher earned a sixth place finish for JTG Daugherty Racing. David Ragan was running in the Top 10 in the later portions of the race before settling for a 15th place finish.
Hendrick Motorsports placed all four teams inside the Top 10, with Chase Elliott earning the highest finish in the 4th position. Week after week Hendrick Motorsports continues to show signs of improvement, and started the weekend off strong when William Byron earned the pole for the Coca-Cola 600.
The complete finish order and race stats for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway is available here.
