Hello everyone and welcome back to another weekend of NASCAR racing! This weekend presented all the drivers with their toughest mental test on the season with the schedules longest race 600 miles. Hendrick Motorsports was also looking for a NASCAR record 269th win to be the most winning team in history.This weekend was also one of the few chosen to have one practice session and a full qualifying for the race. It was long race but let’s take a look at what happened in the Coke 600 this weekend.
Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. came in as the drivers to beat on the 550 horsepower package and showed their speed in practice. Larson qualified for the pole while alongside Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in second, and Truex qualified 8th. Larson led the field to green and like most of the night dominated the whole first stage. Larson won stage one and it was worth noting that Ryan Blaney had a loose wheel which caused him to go a lap down. It was a quiet stage one and stage two was not much different. Larson won stage two while Chase Elliott led some laps as well taking the lead from Larson for a few laps. Kurt Busch’s engine expired in stage two as well which ended his night despite the strong top ten run he was having. Stage three was straight forward as well with Larson continuing to dominate, Blaney got his lap back, and with 5 laps left in the stage Ryan Newman blew a right front tire damaging his car. There were not many cautions, which meant the final stage four was all green. Larson built a gap and cruised while William Byron, Kyle Busch, and Chase Elliott fought for second place.
In the end there were no cautions and Kyle Larson cruised to victory comfortably leading 327 laps and Chase Elliott in second place. Hendrick was one spot away from having another 1-2-3-4 finish but Kyle Busch broke it up finishing in third place. Truex Jr. had a disappointing night finishing a shocking 29th. Chris Buescher finished in 8th after starting 27th and Kevin Harvick finished 10th. It wasn’t the most entertaining race with only around 15 cars on the lead lap which could lead to some racing package changes for the cars next year.
Larson seems the driver to beat this year and we will see what happens next race at Sonoma. I will bring you the recap as always and all stats from NASCAR.com
-CM
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