16 cautions, four wide passes, and a major restart – well that pretty much sums up Martin Truex Jr’s journey on the trackway for the 2019 Coca-Cola 600. However, rising from the dust, Truex Jr showcased how you can achieve victory without any excuses. But this was not it! Truex had also won the Toyota Owners 400 and the Gander RV 400 before he took the checkered flag at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Martin Truex Jr was in the spotlight for most of the duration of the race.  With only five laps left, he made an unbelievable move that inched him closer to the victory line. 

From a flat tire to a massive win – Truex Jr achieved his third victory of the season

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series did prove to be eventful for Martin Truex Jr after he marked his third victory at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. However, the victory pathway was not as hunky-dory as it seemed. After Truex charged for the lead nearly three seconds in the first stage, Truex ended up with a massive blow-up that affected his right front tire. This ended up with him slamming the Turn 4 wall which led to a massive third caution for the evening. 

However, this did not stop Truex Jr from marking his victory. He started at 32nd on the 79th lap. However, in a dramatic turn of events, by the 100th lap, Truex Jr marched to the top 10. He ended Stage 1 with a 9th position. Recounting his run on the tracks, Truex Jr mentioned, “I started the race the car was really good. We drove through the field, we took the lead and we were just kinda out for cruising. I cut down the right front tire and got in the wall off the turn 4, oh man, there’s 500 miles to go still. We’re able to fix the car, make some adjustments, and come from back to the lead. Low and behold, there’s a caution with just few laps to go and we decided to take tires. Some guy stayed out. I think we restarted 5th. So I got through turn 1 and 2 really good, finished the pass off turn 4”.What pushed Truex to mark his victory was when David Ragan and Ryan Newman got left behind. 

While Ragan fell prey to the old tires, Newman ended up making two tire stops just before the final restart on lap 396. This ensured that Truex could March forward surpassing both of them and Logano, clearing his way towards the victory line. However, this overtaking of Logano did not come easy. While Truex was speeding through Turn 4 and approaching the tri-oval, Logano was on his bumper. He even pushed Truex Jr hard to pressure him further. However, Truex did manage to steer through this adversity as well while he pulled away as he reached Turn 1 on Lap 397. 

Reacting to this win, Logano mentioned, “That was just incredible — what a race. This is for everybody who gave their life so we could be here doing this tonight”. The topsy-turvy curves at Charlotte along with the near touches on the track did ensure that Truex could go out of the tracks and lose his lead. However, despite the pessimism, Truex managed to mark his victory!

Truex Jr Ender Bayley Currey’s Night on the Tracks

Although Truex did manage to put up a vehement show for himself, he ended the night for Bayley Currey. Towards the end of the final stage, Truex Jr bumped the rear bumper and this ended up damaging his car big time. It went spinning off the track and ended up hitting the wall. The night ended for Currey as he was unable to get back on the tracks. However, his team seemed to be displeased by Tried Jr.’s move. RACER writer Kelly Crandall put up this incident and threw light on the same. She mentioned, “Currey was spun off Turn 2 by Truex, sending the 52 to the inside wall. Currey is climbing out of the car as the team says that Truex’s spotter came over and said “it just took off on him.” Someone from the 52 replies, “looks like he needed a caution to me.” #NASCAR”. 

The race was not only historic because of the brave fight that Truex Jr put up in the face of diversity. It also ended with a tribute to the servicewomen and men during the Memorial Day weekend.