He knew his bad luck on the Sprint Cup circuit would change.
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“There’s a lot of emotion right now, not real sure it’s sunk in yet”, Truex said.
Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the competition and that’s exactly what Jimmie Johnson did on Sunday night after the Coca-Cola 600.
Johnson said he was impressed not only by Truex driving a flawless race, but by the adjustments made on Truex’s No. 78 Furniture Row Racing vehicle by crew chief Cole Pearn and by the mistake-free night their team had on pit road. The leader came in to get fresh tires, left the pits first and was never pressured again.
A year ago here, Truex led the most laps at 131, but fell to fifth when he pitted for fuel late and four cars, including victor Carl Edwards, stayed out. “I went out and high-fived him as he drove on by (on the way to Victory Lane) because he’s been knocking on the door”, Johnson said.
It was the first win for Truex since winning at Pocono in June.
Harvick finished second, followed by Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski.
Martin Truex Jr poses with the trophy after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Sunday, May 29, 2016.
Truex took the surprise out of this one early and was barely touched by the field.
He broke a 49-year-old race record for most laps led, replacing the mark set by Jim Paschal in 1967.
HALFWAY HOME: The Coca-Cola 600 was the 13th Sprint Cup race, halfway through the 26 events that make up the pre-Championship Chase portion of the season.
Truex, of course, was too caught up in the moment and ready to celebrate after winning his first Coca-Cola 600 to worry about future changes. “It’s a good group, and I’m just really happy for them”.
Fan-favourite Dale Earnhardt Jr. saw his series-leading winless streak continue at non-points paying races at Charlotte, with the number 88 driver now winless in 33 starts at the 1.5-mile North Carolina track.
With 65 laps remaining, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson were running faster laps than Truex, but a caution for debris reset the field with 55 laps remaining. “But even leading at the end, I thought, ‘All right, when’s the caution going to hit.’ And it didn’t”. “Tonight, he wasn’t going to be denied”.
“We struggled the first 450 miles, but they kept swinging at it and were finally able to find some tire pressures that were better”, Harvick said.
Owner Roger Penske, who had a disappointing day at Indianapolis, hoped to rebound with his NASCAR duo of Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, who won the All-Star race at the track last weekend.
Tony Stewart, who needs a win and to finish in the top 30 of the points standings to make NASCAR’s version of the playoffs after missing nine races due for a back injury, finished 24th to move up two spots to 35th in the standings – 60 markers behind 30th-place David Ragan.
The fact that Truex and his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota have been so close to Victory Lane this season – he led 141 laps at Texas and 172 laps at Kansas before late-race trouble found the 78 team in both instances – was not lost on Johnson.
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The four caution periods took up just 19 laps, leading to Charlotte records for fastest average speed (160.644 mph) and fastest race (three hours, 44 minutes, eight seconds).
