Martin Truex Jr. dominates at Kentucky

SPARTA, Ky.  —  Martin Truex Jr. was making the Quaker State 400 field look ridiculous Saturday night. As in, Secretariat winning The Belmont by 31 lengths (1973) or Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open by 15 strokes (2000).

It was that kind of dominant, until it wasn’t. But in the end, Truex indeed was spewing victory burnout smoke over the grandstands at Kentucky Speedway.

Truex was leading by a mammoth 16 seconds and about to take the white flag for the last lap in the seventh annual Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series race at this 1.5-mile layout, when Kurt Busch’s car began smoking back in the pack. That slowed the field for a caution flag and erased Truex’s big lead.

The scheduled 267-lap race instead went to seven laps of overtime, with Truex fans hoping their man’s tires were fresh enough for the re-start.

“I thought we were dead,” Truex said, able to laugh in the immediate aftermath. “Literally, I could smell somebody’s engine blowing up.”

Truex and his No. 78 Toyota had stayed out while some of his pursuers pitted for fresh tires late in the race. Still, Truex got the jump on the re-start and cruised home as a wreck erupted back in the field. Cup season points leader Kyle Larson finished second.

“The (No. 42) Target Chevy was good,” Larson said. “Truex, though, never got to see him that last run. He was upwards of 15 seconds ahead of us.  That was pretty crazy.  He has definitely been the fastest car all year. So, got some work to do, but if we can keep chasing him I think we can beat him.”

It was the first Kentucky win for Truex, who ranks No. 2 in the Cup season points race, just one point back. It also was his third overall win this year and 10th of his Cup career.

“It’s just completely unbelievable,” Truex said. “I thought we had a shot last year and it got away from us on fuel mileage. I wanted to win here so bad, so this is sweet redemption.”

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Truex sped away during the latter stages Saturday, after pole-sitter Kyle Busch dominated the early portion of the race. Truex, who started second, gradually caught and passed two-time Kentucky winner Busch. Truex led 152 laps, Busch 112.

How far ahead was Truex in the late stages? Consider that the previous closest Cup victory margin this year was 1.806 seconds, by Brad Keselowski at Martinsville in April. Truex was about to win by nearly 15 more seconds than that, as he led the field by half the track.

Truex never did relax.

“I was worried every lap, waiting for a caution,” Truex said. “Especially at the end. You’re counting them down. Last 30, last 20, last 10. There’s no way there wasn’t going to be a caution, and sure enough there was. Fortunately I was able to hold them off. This (car) was just so stout tonight.”

Chase Elliott finished third, Denny Hamlin fourth and Kyle Busch was fifth.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 12th in what was probably his last race at Kentucky Speedway. Earnhardt has announced he will retire from full-time Cup racing at the end of the year.

SECOND CITY: For Larson, his Cup season points lead was shaved to one. Larson started at the back of the pack Saturday due to failed technical inspections.

After surging from 40th place to third place, Larson was nailed for speeding on pit road on Lap 84. That sent Larson to the rear again, and then he again charged back near the top.

“I guess I was just a little too fast leaving my stall and got a penalty,” Larson said. “So, I’ve got to clean that stuff up. I’m mad at myself that I made that mistake. I don’t really know if it affected the outcome, but you never know.”

BIG NAMES CRASH: Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and three-time Kentucky winner Brad Keselowski both had their nights end on Lap 88, with a Turn 3 crash into the wall.

Clint Bowyer also was involved in the wreck, as Keselowski appeared to lose his car entering the turn. Bowyer was able to continue racing, and he finished 13th.

Johnson said he had nowhere to go.

“I hate it for the guys that we didn’t get a better finish,” Johnson said of his No. 48 Chevrolet. “The No. 2 car (Keselowski) got into the corner and he was sideways before we got there. I feel like the car on the outside of him left him some room. But then, talking to Brad inside (the care center), he said he was just sideways before he ever got to the corner.”

Keselowski, in a TV interview shortly after the wreck, admitted to being overly aggressive. Keselowski was seeking to make a move after starting 10th. He has won here three times.

MORE TROUBLE: Six laps after the Keselowski-Johnson-Bowyer crash sent smoke billowing across the infield, Kasey Kahne and Trevor Bayne tangled in Turn 1 and hit the wall in another dramatic dust-up.

The wreck ended Kahne’s night, while Bayne continued with major damage. Soon after, Bayne turned into the garage and called it a night.

STAGE TALLY: Truex won Stage 1 (80 laps) and Stage 2 (80 laps). Kyle Busch led 66 of the first 68 laps, but Truex overtook Busch near the end of Stage 1.

FLYING HIGH: Before the race, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin joined three soldiers in rappelling from a Black Hawk helicopter onto the speedway infield. Bevin carried the starter’s green flag for the race, and the governor also was the honorary pace car driver.

The 50-year-old Bevin is a former U.S. Army captain.

Groeschen writes for the Cincinnati Enquirer, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter @TomGroeschen

PHOTOS: MARTIN TRUEX JR. BEHIND THE WHEEL

SATURDAY'S RESULTS

Lap length: 1.50 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (2) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 274 laps, 149.0 rating, 60 points.

2. (40) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 274, 107.6, 43.

3. (12) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 274, 104.4, 36.

4. (5) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 274, 98.2, 40.

5. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 274, 127.9, 50.

6. (14) Erik Jones, Toyota, 274, 102.7, 40.

7. (4) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 274, 103.8, 41.

8. (11) Joey Logano, Ford, 274, 87.8, 29.

9. (7) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 274, 112.0, 42.

10. (6) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 273, 88.0, 27.

11. (17) Darrell Wallace Jr, Ford, 273, 75.2, 0.

12. (13) Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet, 273, 82.1, 25.

13. (16) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 273, 84.7, 26.

14. (18) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 273, 74.5, 23.

15. (20) Danica Patrick, Ford, 273, 69.9, 22.

16. (22) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 273, 62.9, 21.

17. (3) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 273, 97.3, 33.

18. (9) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 273, 76.7, 19.

19. (25) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 273, 59.2, 18.

20. (28) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 272, 62.9, 17.

21. (24) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 272, 59.3, 16.

22. (29) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 272, 58.8, 15.

23. (21) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 271, 55.2, 14.

24. (26) David Ragan, Ford, 270, 50.7, 13.

25. (30) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 270, 48.2, 12.

26. (35) Landon Cassill, Ford, 268, 49.6, 11.

27. (31) Ryan Sieg, Toyota, 266, 42.8, 0.

28. (33) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 265, 40.9, 9.

29. (36) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 265, 38.5, 8.

30. (15) Kurt Busch, Ford, engine, 264, 73.8, 11.

31. (38) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 261, 34.1, 0.

32. (37) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 260, 32.2, 0.

33. (27) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 253, 36.0, 4.

34. (32) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, engine, 212, 41.0, 3.

35. (39) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 207, 28.3, 2.

36. (34) Joey Gase, Toyota, accident, 129, 29.3, 0.

37. (19) Trevor Bayne, Ford, accident, 101, 46.2, 1.

38. (23) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, accident, 93, 50.0, 1.

39. (10) Brad Keselowski, Ford, accident, 89, 51.8, 1.

40. (8) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, accident, 87, 69.6, 3.

———

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 138.615 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 57 minutes, 55 seconds.

Margin of Victory: Under Caution.

Caution Flags: 9 for 0 laps.

Lead Changes: 9 among 4 drivers.

Lap Leaders: Ky.Busch 1-28; M.Truex 29; Ky.Busch 30-67; M.Truex 68-87; Ky.Busch 88-133; M.Truex 134-163; J.Logano 164-170; M.Truex 171-225; D.Earnhardt 226-228; M.Truex 229-274

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): M.Truex, 5 times for 147 laps; Ky.Busch, 3 times for 109 laps; J.Logano, 1 time for 6 laps; D.Earnhardt, 1 time for 2 laps.

Wins: J.Johnson, 3; M.Truex, 3; B.Keselowski, 2; K.Larson, 2; R.Stenhouse, 2; R.Blaney, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; A.Dillon, 1; K.Harvick, 1; J.Logano, 1; R.Newman, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. K.Larson, 710; 2. M.Truex, 709; 3. Ky.Busch, 609; 4. K.Harvick, 599; 5. C.Elliott, 560; 6. J.McMurray, 545; 7. D.Hamlin, 538; 8. B.Keselowski, 536; 9. J.Johnson, 519; 10. C.Bowyer, 495; 11. M.Kenseth, 478; 12. J.Logano, 471; 13. R.Blaney, 462; 14. E.Jones, 426; 15. Ku.Busch, 419; 16. R.Stenhouse, 418.