Joe Gibbs Racing superstar Martin Truex Jr. will be 44 years old come June. The most challenging tracks on the NASCAR schedule have all already seen him come and tame them over the last two decades and the Charlotte Motor Speedway is no exception. As he travels to the 1.5-mile quad-oval intermediate this Sunday to race in the infamous Coca-Cola 600, he will hope to add on to his win tally there.
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Truex Jr. has three victories, eight top-5 finishes, and fourteen top-10s over 32 starts on the track. Of the three victories two were in the Coca-Cola 600. The most recent of them came in May 2019 when he led 116 laps to grab winning honors. Notably, his average finish rate in Charlotte is 13.7. These numbers make him an undeniable favorite to be victorious in the upcoming event.
He recently said to the press about his affinity for the fixture, “My favorite thing about the Coke 600 is how much the track changes and how long the race is. It’s such a big challenge to get prepared for and get through the whole race. We’ve been fortunate to win it a few times. For whatever reason, it’s been a really good race for me and my Bass Pro Shops team the past eight or nine years.”
A victory lane visit on Sunday would be a massive boost to Truex Jr. and his #19 team in their title charge. They came frustratingly close to winning in a couple of races this season and missed out due to last minute errors. Success has been long coming and it could finally grace them at Charlotte. The driver will be hoping for the best with not many more years on the race track left in his belt.
Truex Jr.’s dominant 2016 Coca-Cola 600 win that serves as a benchmark in the event
The first time he won the Coca-Cola 600, in 2016, Truex Jr. led a humongous 392 laps. That’s the most miles any NASCAR driver has led in a Cup Series race ever. The dominance that he displayed in that race behind the #78 Toyota of Furniture Row Racing is still talked about as his best outing. The benchmark for the field, him included, going to the upcoming race is to replicate such a performance.
He says looking back at the race, “Certainly that 2016 Coke 600 was a special day. We started on the pole and led almost every lap, and the only laps we didn’t lead were when we were pitting.”
“Essentially led every lap we were on the track racing. To do that in a 600-mile race, the longest of the year, to do that was as close to perfection as it gets,” Truex Jr. concluded.
