Martin Truex Jr. has scored a dominant win as he held off the best in NASCAR on old tyres in an overtime finish at Kentucky.
After sweeping both Stage 1 and 2, Truex had a massive lead when with two laps to run Kurt Busch had an engine let go.
Truex’s 15-second lead meant that he had lapped everyone up until ninth. It also meant many lapped down cars were between him and second-placed Kyle Larson. He chose not to pit, and everyone else behind came to pit road and decided to take either two or four tyres.
On the re-start it looked like Truex had the fresh tyres as he pulled away. Those behind tried to go deep into the corners, but got out of the groove and Truex pulled a gap.
Then a crash behind with one lap to go involving Matt Kenseth, Daniel Suarez and Austin Dillon brought out the caution. As Truex had passed the overtime line on the back stretch, he was the deserving winner.
Speaking straight after the race Truex was delighted and surprised to have held off the field on the final re-start.
“I thought we were dead – I thought we were done,” said Truex.
“It’s completely unbelievable, I’m so excited to win here. It felt like I had a shot here last year but lost out on fuel mileage. Just wanted to win so bad after that. So, it’s sweet redemption.
“I was worried every lap waiting for a caution especially at the end. You are counting them (laps) down. Then sure enough there is a caution at the end. But fortunately, I was able to hold them off and this car was so stout tonight.”
The result was Truex’s third win of the year, 10th of his career and 14th stage win of the season. He sits just one point behind Larson in the standings.
The only major crash of the night occurred on the re-start after Stage 1 when Brad Keselowski and Clint Bowyer made contact. Bowyer spun and got away with next to no damage, while Keselowski slammed into the fence and took out Jimmie Johnson in the process.
NASCAR heads to Loudon next weekend and the flat one-mile of New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
VIDEO: Race recap
VIDEO: Truex Jr. speaks after the race
RESULTS: Quaker State 400 – Kentucky Speedway
| Cla | # | Driver | Make | Laps | Laps Led | Status | Points |
| 1 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 274 | 152 | Running | 60 |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 274 | 0 | Running | 43 |
| 3 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 274 | 0 | Running | 36 |
| 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 274 | 0 | Running | 40 |
| 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 274 | 112 | Running | 50 |
| 6 | 77 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 274 | 0 | Running | 40 |
| 7 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 274 | 0 | Running | 41 |
| 8 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 274 | 7 | Running | 29 |
| 9 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 274 | 0 | Running | 42 |
| 10 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 273 | 0 | Running | 27 |
| 11 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Ford | 273 | 0 | Running | |
| 12 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 273 | 3 | Running | 25 |
| 13 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 273 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 14 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 273 | 0 | Running | 23 |
| 15 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Ford | 273 | 0 | Running | 22 |
| 16 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 273 | 0 | Running | 21 |
| 17 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 273 | 0 | Running | 33 |
| 18 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 273 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 19 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 272 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 20 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 272 | 0 | Running | 17 |
| 21 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 272 | 0 | Running | 16 |
| 22 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 272 | 0 | Running | 15 |
| 23 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 271 | 0 | Running | 14 |
| 24 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 270 | 0 | Running | 13 |
| 25 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 270 | 0 | Running | 12 |
| 26 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 268 | 0 | Running | 11 |
| 27 | 83 | Ryan Sieg | Toyota | 266 | 0 | Running | |
| 28 | 15 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 265 | 0 | Running | 9 |
| 29 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 265 | 0 | Running | 8 |
| 30 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 264 | 0 | Engine | 11 |
| 31 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Chevrolet | 261 | 0 | Running | |
| 32 | 51 | B.J. McLeod | Chevrolet | 260 | 0 | Running | |
| 33 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 253 | 0 | Running | 4 |
| 34 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 212 | 0 | Engine | 3 |
| 35 | 55 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 207 | 0 | Running | 2 |
| 36 | 23 | Joey Gase | Toyota | 129 | 0 | Accident | |
| 37 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 101 | 0 | Accident | 1 |
| 38 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 93 | 0 | Accident | 1 |
| 39 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 89 | 0 | Accident | 1 |
| 40 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 87 | 0 | Accident | 3 |
|
Pos
|
Driver
|
Pts
|
Behind
|
Wins
|
Starts
|
Top 5’s
|
Top 10’s
|
Poles
|
|
1
|
Kyle Larson
|
710
|
Leader
|
2
|
18
|
8
|
11
|
3
|
|
2
|
Martin Truex Jr.
|
709
|
-1
|
3
|
18
|
6
|
12
|
0
|
|
3
|
Kyle Busch
|
609
|
-101
|
0
|
18
|
7
|
10
|
3
|
|
4
|
Kevin Harvick
|
599
|
-111
|
1
|
18
|
6
|
11
|
3
|
|
5
|
Chase Elliott
|
560
|
-150
|
0
|
18
|
6
|
11
|
1
|
|
6
|
Jamie McMurray
|
545
|
-165
|
0
|
18
|
2
|
11
|
0
|
|
7
|
Denny Hamlin
|
538
|
-172
|
0
|
18
|
5
|
9
|
0
|
|
8
|
Brad Keselowski
|
536
|
-174
|
2
|
18
|
9
|
11
|
1
|
|
9
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
519
|
-191
|
3
|
18
|
3
|
6
|
0
|
|
10
|
Clint Bowyer
|
495
|
-215
|
0
|
18
|
4
|
7
|
0
|
|
11
|
Matt Kenseth
|
478
|
-232
|
0
|
18
|
3
|
6
|
1
|
|
12
|
Joey Logano
|
471
|
-239
|
1
|
18
|
7
|
10
|
1
|
|
13
|
Ryan Blaney
|
462
|
-248
|
1
|
18
|
3
|
7
|
1
|
|
14
|
Erik Jones
|
426
|
-284
|
0
|
18
|
1
|
5
|
0
|
|
15
|
Kurt Busch
|
419
|
-291
|
1
|
18
|
2
|
8
|
0
|
|
16
|
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
|
418
|
-292
|
2
|
18
|
4
|
7
|
1
|
|
17
|
Ryan Newman
|
414
|
-296
|
1
|
18
|
3
|
6
|
0
|
|
18
|
Daniel Suarez
|
373
|
-337
|
0
|
18
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
|
19
|
Trevor Bayne
|
352
|
-358
|
0
|
18
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
|
20
|
Austin Dillon
|
341
|
-369
|
1
|
18
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
|
21
|
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
|
332
|
-378
|
0
|
18
|
1
|
4
|
1
|
|
22
|
Kasey Kahne
|
329
|
-381
|
0
|
18
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
|
23
|
Paul Menard
|
309
|
-401
|
0
|
18
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
|
24
|
Ty Dillon
|
301
|
-409
|
0
|
18
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
25
|
Michael McDowell
|
275
|
-435
|
0
|
18
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|
26
|
Chris Buescher
|
271
|
-439
|
0
|
18
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
27
|
AJ Allmendinger
|
259
|
-451
|
0
|
18
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
|
28
|
David Ragan
|
242
|
-468
|
0
|
18
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
|
29
|
Danica Patrick
|
230
|
-480
|
0
|
18
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
30
|
Matt DiBenedetto
|
196
|
-514
|
0
|
18
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
31
|
Landon Cassill
|
189
|
-521
|
0
|
18
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
32
|
Aric Almirola
|
188
|
-522
|
0
|
11
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
|
33
|
Cole Whitt
|
187
|
-523
|
0
|
18
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
34
|
Corey LaJoie
|
124
|
-586
|
0
|
15
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
35
|
Reed Sorenson
|
88
|
-622
|
0
|
15
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
36
|
Gray Gaulding
|
84
|
-626
|
0
|
14
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
37
|
Jeffrey Earnhardt
|
74
|
-636
|
0
|
17
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
38
|
Michael Waltrip
|
29
|
-681
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
39
|
Derrike Cope
|
26
|
-684
|
0
|
9
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
40
|
Billy Johnson
|
15
|
-695
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
41
|
Boris Said
|
8
|
-702
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
42
|
Alon Day
|
5
|
-705
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
43
|
Kevin O’Connell
|
4
|
-706
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
44
|
Cody Ware
|
4
|
-706
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
45
|
Tommy Regan
|
3
|
-707
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
46
|
D.J. Kennington
|
2
|
-708
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
47
|
Brendan Gaughan
|
0
|
-710
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
48
|
Darrell Wallace Jr.
|
0
|
-710
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
49
|
Elliott Sadler
|
0
|
-710
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
50
|
Ross Chastain
|
0
|
-710
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
51
|
Joey Gase
|
0
|
-710
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
52
|
Regan Smith
|
0
|
-710
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
53
|
Ryan Sieg
|
0
|
-710
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
54
|
JJ Yeley
|
0
|
-710
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
55
|
Timmy Hill
|
0
|
-710
|
0
|
11
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
56
|
Carl Long
|
0
|
-710
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
57
|
B.J. McLeod
|
0
|
-710
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
58
|
Josh Bilicki
|
0
|
-710
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
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