Austin Dillon has taken the famous #3 back to victory lane winning a fuel strategy race at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.
It was Dillon’s maiden career victory and the first time the number made famous by the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. had taken the chequered flag out front since at Talladega in 2000. He was killed in a crash at the 2001 Daytona 500.
Dillon and Jimmie Johnson played the conservative game as they were chased down in the final laps by Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch.
Johnson ran out with two laps to run, while Busch got around Truex Jr., but couldn’t catch Dillon. The grandson of team owner Richard Childress ran out of fuel at the line and was unable to perform a victory burnout!
Dillon is now all but guaranteed a spot in the NASCAR Chase for the Cup.
“It hasn’t sunk in it,” said Dillon.
“I was so focused on that last lap. My fiancee wrote in the car, ‘When you keep God in first place, he will take you places you’ve never been’ and I’ve never been here in Coca-Cola 600 Victory Lane. My pit crew was the best on pit road. I love it for them.
“We’re in the Chase baby – it’s awesome! I was just trying to be patient with (Johnson), I could see him up there saving (fuel). When he ran out I went back into save mode. We ran out at the (finish) line and it gurgled all the way around and we pushed it to Victory Lane.”
Already the longest race in NASCAR racing, the night got even longer when a thunder storm hit the track and saw the field parked during the second stage. Once the skies cleared it appeared Truex Jr. and Busch were the cars to catch. Along with Denny Hamlin, they took the bonus stage wins and Truex led the most laps with 233 of the 400 laps out front.
The major incident of the night came early when Chase Elliott had an engine expire and oil poured out. Brad Keselowski couldn’t stop in the oil and slammed into the back of Elliott. Both Johnson and Truex Jr. sliding through and somehow escaping the incident.
VIDEO: Race finish
VIDEO: Victory Lane
VIDEO: Elliott and Keselowski come together
RESULTS: Coca-Cola 600 – Charlotte Motor Speedway
| Pos | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Laps Led | Status |
| 1 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 400 | 4:19’24 | 2 | Running |
| 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 400 | 0.835 | 63 | Running |
| 3 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 400 | 1.152 | 233 | Running |
| 4 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 400 | 5.378 | Running | |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 400 | 10.611 | 10 | Running |
| 6 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 400 | 11.429 | 1 | Running |
| 7 | 77 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 400 | 14.409 | Running | |
| 8 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 400 | 16.323 | 45 | Running |
| 9 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 400 | 18.703 | Running | |
| 10 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 400 | 20.486 | Running | |
| 11 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 400 | 21.805 | Running | |
| 12 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 400 | 25.189 | Running | |
| 13 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 400 | 25.967 | 2 | Running |
| 14 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 400 | 27.243 | Running | |
| 15 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 400 | 30.355 | 2 | Running |
| 16 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 400 | 30.959 | Running | |
| 17 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 400 | 40.148 | 35 | Running |
| 18 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 399 | 1 lap | Running | |
| 19 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 399 | 1 lap | Running | |
| 20 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 399 | 1 lap | Running | |
| 21 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 399 | 1 lap | Running | |
| 22 | 43 | Regan Smith | Ford | 399 | 1 lap | Running | |
| 23 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 397 | 3 laps | Running | |
| 24 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 396 | 4 laps | Running | |
| 25 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Ford | 396 | 4 laps | 7 | Running |
| 26 | 7 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | 395 | 5 laps | Running | |
| 27 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 393 | 7 laps | Running | |
| 28 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 393 | 7 laps | Running | |
| 29 | 51 | Timmy Hill | Chevrolet | 384 | 16 laps | Running | |
| 30 | 15 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 375 | 25 laps | Running | |
| 31 | 55 | Derrike Cope | Chevrolet | 327 | 73 laps | Running | |
| 32 | 83 | Corey Lajoie | Toyota | 315 | 85 laps | Engine | |
| 33 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 292 | 108 laps | Accident | |
| 34 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 290 | 110 laps | Engine | |
| 35 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 244 | 156 laps | Accident | |
| 36 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 242 | 158 laps | Rear end | |
| 37 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 139 | 261 laps | Accident | |
| 38 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 19 | 381 laps | Accident | |
| 39 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 19 | 381 laps | Accident | |
| 40 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 18 | 382 laps | Rear end |
| Pos | Driver | Pts | Behind | Wins | Starts | Top 5’s | Top 10’s | Poles |
| 1 | Kyle Larson | 475 | Leader | 1 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | 431 | -44 | 2 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| 3 | Brad Keselowski | 408 | -67 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 1 |
| 4 | Chase Elliott | 361 | -114 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| 5 | Jamie McMurray | 354 | -121 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 6 | Kevin Harvick | 347 | -128 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 3 |
| 7 | Kyle Busch | 325 | -150 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| 8 | Jimmie Johnson | 323 | -152 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 | Joey Logano | 320 | -155 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 1 |
| 10 | Clint Bowyer | 317 | -158 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| 11 | Ryan Blaney | 291 | -184 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 12 | Denny Hamlin | 289 | -186 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| 13 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 276 | -199 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| 14 | Trevor Bayne | 250 | -225 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 15 | Kurt Busch | 246 | -229 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 16 | Kasey Kahne | 242 | -233 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | Ryan Newman | 238 | -237 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 18 | Matt Kenseth | 233 | -242 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| 19 | Daniel Suarez | 217 | -258 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 20 | Erik Jones | 217 | -258 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | Ty Dillon | 204 | -271 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Austin Dillon | 193 | -282 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | Aric Almirola | 188 | -287 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 24 | Paul Menard | 173 | -302 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 173 | -302 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | Chris Buescher | 155 | -320 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | David Ragan | 144 | -331 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 28 | Michael McDowell | 137 | -338 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Cole Whitt | 136 | -339 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | AJ Allmendinger | 130 | -345 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 31 | Landon Cassill | 128 | -347 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | 123 | -352 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | Danica Patrick | 115 | -360 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Corey LaJoie | 77 | -398 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Reed Sorenson | 56 | -419 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Gray Gaulding | 51 | -424 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 49 | -426 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Michael Waltrip | 29 | -446 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 39 | Derrike Cope | 16 | -459 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | D.J. Kennington | 1 | -474 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Cody Ware | 1 | -474 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Brendan Gaughan | 0 | -475 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Elliott Sadler | 0 | -475 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Joey Gase | 0 | -475 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Regan Smith | 0 | -475 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | JJ Yeley | 0 | -475 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Timmy Hill | 0 | -475 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Carl Long | 0 | -475 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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