History favors Martin Truex Jr. in Coca-Cola 600 after dominating 2016 win
CONCORD, N.C. - Last year, Martin Truex Jr. turned NASCAR’s longest race — the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway — into its easiest one.
Truex led 392 of the race’s 400 laps in winning the 600, scoring one of the season’s biggest beat-downs. It was like Truex was in a rocket ship and everyone else was pedaling tricycles.
This year’s 600-mile marathon, then, should start with Truex as the dominant force, right? If Truex thinks that is the case, he’s not showing his cards – or his car — early.
“So much has changed since then,” Truex said. “The downforce package we have (and) the tires are different. Charlotte typically changes quite a bit day to day, let alone year to year. It’s definitely still going to be a challenge.
“I think we’ll be one of the guys to beat, but so many things have to go right to win these races. There are no guarantees. We’re certainly putting the pressure on ourselves to make sure we get it all done.”
While Truex will enter Sunday’s race as a solid favorite, Kyle Busch probably will be on the radar screen.
Busch rallied in the final stage Saturday night and won the All-Star race at CMS, scoring his first victory in a Cup car at the venue.
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While the format, stage length and car setup are different for the non-points event, it could give the Joe Gibbs Racing driver confidence heading into this weekend.
Busch didn’t lead a ton of laps (only the 10 in the final segment), but his three-wide move to take first place at the start of the last stage was the sort of daring and aggressive tactic that often is required for success on the tour’s 1.5-mile tracks.
“Hopefully, we can sweep it,” Busch said of Sunday’s race. “It would be nice to be added to that list of drivers that have been able to do that.
“We’ve got a little bit of work to do in order to get ourselves in position to be able to do that. Six hundred miles is a long race. Starts in the day, ends at night. There are a lot of things that can happen in that race.”
Truex, who finished 12th of 20 entries in the All-Star race, has two victories and leads the series in stage wins (five) in the first season of NASCAR’s new approach to awarding points during races. He would have collected a bundle at CMS if the system had been in place last year.
“We really haven’t forgotten about last year, how it all went down, how important the stage points are,” Truex said. “It’s going to be big. We’re going after all of them we can get.”
NASCAR has added a stage to Sunday’s 600, making the sport’s longest race its most valuable from the playoff points perspective. (Each of four stages will award 10 points each to the winner, plus 40 to the race winner). It also could make Truex’s attempt to repeat last year’s strong run more difficult.
“To be able in this day and age, with the competition level, to be able to lead that many miles, that many laps, is going to be something tough to replicate,” he said.
“Hopefully, we can do it. It would be a great time. But it’s going to be tough, for sure, especially with stages and all that. It’s going to be interesting.”
Follow Hembree on Twitter @mikehembree
PHOTOS: MARTIN TRUEX JR. BEHIND THE WHEEL
