Yahoo Autos Martin Truex Jr. Leads 588 Miles En Route To Charlotte Win
Sometimes, there just isn't much more to the story of a race than one driver and his dominance.
After their series of impressive runs as a satellite program of an otherwise-struggling Richard Childress Racing last year, the combination of Martin Truex Jr. and Furniture Row Racing's partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing meant elevated expectations in 2016. They almost met them from the onset, losing the Daytona 500 by inches to JGR factory driver Denny Hamlin, but in the months that followed, have instead seen many a strong run end with a late-race fade outside of the top three and countless wins for their program-mates from Joe Gibbs Racing. They seemed to have most of what they needed to compete, but they couldn't put it all together on one weekend and hold on for a full race.
All that changed in dramatic fashion today, when the Cole Pearn-led program entered a car capable of leading every lap of the traditional 600-mile Memorial Day weekend race at Charlotte. Truex came close to meeting that lofty expectation, allowing other drivers to lead just three times for eight total laps, en route to a win for the ages. The victory puts him back into the Chase, where he made the Homestead finale on a strong late season charge last year.
It's Truex's fourth career win, one for each of the distinct programs he's raced for. His first with Dale Earnhardt Inc. at Dover took years to be matched, but he finally broke his winless streak in a Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota at Sonoma in 2013. That program fell apart in dramatic fashion after their notorious scandal at Richmond, leading him to Furniture Row Racing, then an RCR affiliate. He won with that group for the first time at Pocono last season, and after that team became a JGR program this season, grabbed his first win in what has evolved into the best ride of his career today.
Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top three, while Chase Elliott was the top finishing rookie of the race in eighth. In a race where the traditional powers were strong most of the night, 10th place Ryan Newman would be the only top ten finisher not affiliated with Hendrick Motorsports, Penske Racing or JGR.
NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series returns for its first of two Summer races at Pocono next weekend.
