Race report

NASCAR Cup Charlotte

Coke 600: Martin Truex Jr. wins after wild four-wide pass

Martin Truex Jr. navigated a four-wide restart with five of 400 laps remaining to win the 60th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Jim Utter

Edited: May 27, 2019, 4:08 AM

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Race Winner Martin Truex Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER ATVs & Boats / USO

Martin Truex Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER ATVs & Boats / USO

Race Winner Martin Truex Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER ATVs & Boats / USO

Martin Truex Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER ATVs & Boats / USO

Joey Logano, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Shell Pennzoil

Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry M&M's Red, White & Blue

Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Miller Lite, Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Mustang Mobil 1, Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry M&M's Red, White & Blue

Truex lined up third on a restart with five go and as the field moved off Turn 2, a four-wide battle erupted for the lead with Truex emerging with the lead.

It was an improbable conclusion to the race for Truex, who had brought out a caution early in the race after hitting the wall.

"That was just incredible - what a race," Truex said after exiting his No. 19 Toyota on the frontstretch. "This is for everybody who gave their life so we could be here doing this tonight.

"What a hell of a team - we never gave up on it. I thought we were done. We blew a tire and hit the wall. We never gave up on it. Just kept fighting, just kept fighting.

"What a race there at the end. That was pretty wild."

Asked at what point he thought he had a car with which he could win, Truex deadpanned, "Before I hit the fence the first time. Before I blew a tire, I was like, 'This thing is unbelievable.' Then it was really tight and we freed it up and then it was too loose.

"I just thank Cole (Pearn, crew chief) and all the guys. We're gaining on it."

The win is the third of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series for Truex – all in the last five races – and 22 of his career.

Kyle Busch finished third, Chase Elliott was fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top-five.

Rounding out the top-10 were Chris Buescher, Alex Bowman, Jimmie Johnson, William Byron and Kevin Harvick.

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Stage 4

Following the break between Stages 3 and 4, all of the lead-lap cars elected to pit with Elliott the first off pit road.

On the restart on Lap 308, Elliott was followed by Truex, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Stenhouse.

Off Turn 4 on Lap 309, Kurt Busch wrecked and made contact with Kyle Busch which brought out a caution. Harvick also received some minor damage in the incident.

On the restart on Lap 315, Elliott remained in the lead, followed by Truex, Kyle Larson, Blaney and Logano.

Larson appeared to get loose after contact with Truex in Turn 2 on Lap 316 and triggered an accident that also collected Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon and Ryan Preece which brought out another caution.

“I got a bad restart and put myself back where I shouldn’t have been,” Larson said. “I just screwed up.”

Only a handful of cars elected to pit and on the restart on Lap 324, Elliott remained in the lead followed by Truex, Blaney, Logano and Bowman.

With 60 laps remaining, Elliott maintain a small advantage over Truex. Blaney ran third, Logano fourth and Brad Keselowski in fifth.

On Lap 343, Truex cleared Elliott after the two made slight contact to retake the lead.

With 45 laps to go, several drivers began a round of green flag pit stops, which would be their final stop needed for fuel.

Denny Hamlin hit the wall on Lap 358 and the debris on the track brought out a caution. All of the lead-lap cars pit, with Truex the first off pit road.

On the restart on Lap 366, Truex led the way followed by Elliott, Stenhouse, Blaney and Newman.

Logano, who had not been in contention most of the race, powered into the second position on Lap 368.

With 30 laps remaining, Truex held a small lead over Logano with Blaney in third and Kyle Busch had moved up to fourth.

After 380 laps, Truex still held a slight advantage over Logano with Blaney still in third. Kyle Busch remained in fourth and Stenhouse ran fifth.

With 10 laps to go, Keselowski spun off Turn 4 and down the entrance to pit road to bring out a caution. Just before his spin, Blaney had headed down pit road under green for a bad vibration.

Most of the lead-lap cars elected to pit but David Ragan stayed out and inherited the lead. Ryan Newman was the first off pit road thanks to a two-tire stop and lined up second.

On the restart on Lap 396, Truex lined up third, Kyle Busch fourth and Elliott fifth.

# Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Laps Led 19 United States Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 400 116 22 Joey Logano Ford 400 0.330 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 400 1.421 79 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 400 1.770 43 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 400 2.374 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 400 2.561 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 400 3.178 8 48 United States Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 400 3.338 24 William Byron Chevrolet 400 3.461 31 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 400 3.819 14 10 Aric Almirola Ford 400 3.840 32 Corey Lajoie Ford 400 4.357 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 400 4.605 2 21 Paul Menard Ford 400 4.631 38 David Ragan Ford 400 5.196 3 6 United States Ryan Newman Ford 400 6.083 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 400 30.888 21 41 Mexico Daniel Suarez Ford 399 1 lap 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 398 2 laps 76 36 Matt Tifft Ford 398 2 laps 8 Daniel Hemric Chevrolet 398 2 laps 7 34 Michael McDowell Ford 398 2 laps 13 United States Ty Dillon Chevrolet 397 3 laps 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 397 3 laps 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 396 4 laps 96 Parker Kligerman Toyota 396 4 laps 1 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 396 4 laps 77 Quin Houff Chevrolet 396 4 laps 53 B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 395 5 laps 27 United States Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 389 11 laps 47 Ryan Preece Chevrolet 343 56 laps 66 Joey Gase Toyota 334 66 laps 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 315 84 laps 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 315 84 laps 52 Bayley Currey Chevrolet 245 154 laps 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 134 265 laps 00 United States Landon Cassill Chevrolet 108 291 laps 51 Cody Ware Ford 51 348 laps 95 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota 47 352 laps 20 Erik Jones Toyota 22 377 laps

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