The Coca-Cola 600 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway is in a delay because of inclement weather in the area around the 1.5-mile track in Concord, North Carolina.
A storm moved over the track after 143 of a scheduled 400 laps, bringing out the red flag when lightning was reported in the area. The race was under caution at the time due to an on-track incident.
NASCAR Air Titans are at the ready to dry the track when it is safe to do so, and NASCAR.com will be your source for updates.
At nearly the midway point of Stage 2, Martin Truex Jr. is your leader. Truex, who led 392 laps and won this event last year, has led a race-high 53 laps. Second at the time of the red flag is Jimmie Johnson, followed by Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth.
CONCORD, N.C. — Kevin Harvick scored the fastest lap time in Round 3 of qualifying in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at Charlotte Motor Speedway Thursday with a speed of 193.424 mph, winning his first pole for the Coca-Cola 600.
It’s his third Coors Light Pole this season and the 20th of his career. Harvick also has two previous victories in the event in 2011 and 2013 and is one of three active Cup Series drivers who have multiple Coca-Cola 600 wins (Jimmie Johnson has three, Kasey Kahne has four).
Harvick credited his team with giving him the car to beat, saying, “The cars in qualifying were a lot looser than they were in practice and just based on past experience here it was a handful through one and two. I just about lost it the first run, but the car was so good in three and four I didn’t want to over-adjust on it and make it too tight down there because you get tighter as the lap runs, so the guys did a good job of making adjustments, but not making it so tight that I couldn’t carry the throttle like I needed to in three and four. So they just did a great job on our Mobil 1 Ford.”
Kyle Busch, winner of last week’s All-Star race, will join him on the front row, posting the second-fastest lap at 192.513 mph in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. If he can capture the checkered flag this Sunday, he would become the eighth driver who has won the All-Star race and followed it up with a win the following week in the Coca-Cola 600.
Chase Elliott will start third in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet after a qualifying lap of 192.260, with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Matt Kenseth in fourth (192.130). Erik Jones rounds out the top five in his Furniture Row Racing Toyota (191.782).
Kyle Larson, the series points leader, and Corey LaJoie missed the first round of qualifying when they were unable to pass inspection before the round ended. Larson will start 39th in his Chip Ganassi Chevrolet and LaJoie will start 40th in his No. 83 Toyota.
Larson, while disappointed, isn’t overly concerned.
“It happened to us at Texas and we rebounded from that and finished second,” he said. “I’m not too worried about it. I know the teams are frustrated with the tech process. I know nothing about how it all works. I don’t really have much to say about it other than I know my crew chief hates it.”
The Coca-Cola 600 will be broadcast Sunday, May 28, at 6 p.m. on FOX.
Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.
Coca-Cola 600 Starting Lineup:
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CONCORD, N.C. — This Sunday the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series celebrates the Memorial Day weekend with the 58th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race will be broadcast at 6 p.m. Sunday evening, on the FOX network. The XFINITY Series will be on track Saturday for the Hisense 4K TV 300 on FS1.
The inaugural Coca-Cola 600, originally named the World 600, was held in 1960 and won by Joe Lee Johnson, the 1959 NASCAR Convertible Series champion. It was his second victory and the final win of his Cup career. But did you know he was the first of 32 different drivers to capture what has become one of NASCAR’s most sought-after trophies?
While some drivers would be content with one victory, Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers with four Coca-Cola 600 wins in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2014. His teammate, Kasey Kahne, isn’t far behind with three. Other three-time winners include David Pearson, Buddy Baker, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon. But did you know that Darrell Waltrip has the most all-time victories with five, in 1978, 1979, 1985, 1988 and 1989?
Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. is the defending race and pole winner. But did you know that last year he dominated the Coca-Cola 600, leading 392 of 400 laps? It was the most laps led in any race in the history of NASCAR. Truex enters the event with the 11th-best driver rating (84.5) at Charlotte with one win, three top fives, seven top 10s and one pole.
However, besting Johnson may be his biggest obstacle. He finished third in the All-Star race and has the best overall driver rating (110.6) at Charlotte. But did you know that in addition to his four Coca-Cola 600 wins, he has four Bank of America 500 trophies, along with 15 top fives, 19 top 10s and four poles?
Kyle Bush (104.8) has the second best driver rating with 10 top fives, 15 top 10s and two poles. He also has the advantage of winning last week’s All-Star race. Seven times, seven different drivers, have gone on to win the Coca-Cola 600 the following weekend after winning the All-Star race.
Denny Hamlin (95.6), Matt Kenseth (95.2, two Charlotte wins) and Kasey Kahne (95.1, four Charlotte wins) round out the top five in driver ratings at the 1.5-mile track.
Kahne discussed what it takes to win NASCAR’s longest race, saying, “The 600 is a difficult race. So many things happen and change during a four or five-hour race depending on cautions. It’s tough mentally and physically. It gets really hot in the car and with each pit stop, you need to be able to get better. Being able to keep your momentum up is really one of the keys to the race.”
As the drivers compete on the track, they will also honor those who have served our country by displaying a fallen military service member’s name on each windshield in the 40-car field. This will be the third consecutive year of NASCAR’s ”600 Miles of Remembrance.”
Some of the names chosen have special significance to the teams.
Truex’s car will display the name of 2nd Lt. John C. Yates, a Marine who served three tours of duty during the Vietnam War. He was killed in action while attempting to save the life of a fellow comrade on Oct. 17, 1968, in the Vietnam province of Quang Tri. He was 26 at the time of his death.
“I couldn’t be more proud of my cousin for his love of God, family, country and the Marine Corps,” said Woody Boyd, chief operating officer (COO) at Furniture Row. “His commitment and ultimate sacrifice inspired me to become a Marine six years later.”
The Memorial Day tributes will be an integral part of the weekend. Several drivers, including Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Reed will have patriotic paint schemes, Goodyear tires will once again have a special sidewall design with “Support Our Troops” messaging and the XFINITY cars will display red, white and blue windshield decals.
The Coca-Cola 600 broadcast begins Sunday, May 28, at 6 p.m. on FOX. In the meantime, please view the gallery below for a look at the service members who are being honored.
CONCORD, N.C. — This Sunday NASCAR celebrates Memorial Day with the 58th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race will be broadcast at 6 p.m. Sunday evening, on the FOX network. The XFINITY Series will be on track Saturday for the Hisense 4K TV 300 on FS1.
Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. is the defending Coca-Cola 600 race and pole winner. Kyle Busch, winner of last week’s All-Star race, heads to Charlotte with the second-best driver rating with 10 top fives, 15 top 10s and two poles. Jimmie Johnson has the most impressive stats entering the race with four Coca-Cola 600 wins plus four victories in the Bank of America 500. His driver rating of 110.6 is the series best, evidenced by his 15 tops fives, 19 top 10s and four poles.
There are 41 drivers entered for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600. Please check below for the complete schedule of events. All times are Eastern.
Thursday, May 25:
On Track:
2-3:25 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – FS1
4-4:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – FS1
6-6:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – FS1
7:15 p.m.: Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
1:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
3:30 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series
Press Conferences: (Watch live) 12:45 p.m.: Ryan Blaney
1:15 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson
1:30 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers: Christopher Bell and Matt Tifft
1:45 p.m.: NASCAR Drive for Diversity Pit Crew Combine
3:30 p.m.: Ben Kennedy
3:45 p.m.: Kyle Busch
4 p.m.: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
8 p.m.: Post-Cup Series Qualifying (time approx.)
SATURDAY, MAY 27:
On Track: 9-9:55 a.m.: Cup Series Practice – FS1
10:05 a.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
11:30 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – FS1
1 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Hisense 4K TV 300 (200 laps, 300 miles) –FS1
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BRISTOL, Tenn. — One term I’ve heard used by those attending the Short Track Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway this past weekend has been “Corporate NASCAR,” meaning NASCAR’s desires to grow the sport has made it lose touch with the interests and desires of its core fans. After watching yet another lackluster All-Star Race that was overhyped by both NASCAR and Charlotte Motor Speedway, I believe there’s truth to that “Corporate NASCAR” label.
I’ve spent the entire weekend at Thunder Valley milling about the garage “tents” of the late model and street stock classes as they prepared to race on the high banks of the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile.” The differences between the atmosphere of these lower level short track racing series and a typical NASCAR weekend are astronomical, even on a typical Bristol weekend.
Race action during a Super Late Model feature race for the Short Track U.S. Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo: Tucker White/SpeedwayMedia.com
The atmosphere at Bristol this weekend has been far more relaxed and fan-friendly, allowing fans to be up close and mingle with drivers who actually were inside the track more often than not. On a typical NASCAR weekend, you’re lucky if your driver spends more than a few minutes outside of his/her motor coach prior to a practice/qualifying session or race. All the late model and street stock teams worked out of a tent where fans could walk by and chat with team members as they please. In the NASCAR world, I see teams rope off their war wagons, telling the public to piss off. Fans were able to stand near the wall inside the track, provided they didn’t do anything reckless. On a NASCAR weekend, you need to be a photographer or hard-carded to be near the walls when cars are on track.
Finally, the drivers meeting this weekend at the Short Track Nationals was actually a meeting where they went over race procedure and emphasized the different layout for Bristol (the turns were on the opposite sides of a NASCAR race and the front and backstretch were flipped). It was also open to anyone who purchased a pit pass for the day or weekend and was held out in the open.
The drivers meeting’s in NASCAR are a joke. It’s an overblown spectacle, and I’m using that term incredibly loosely, held in a secluded location that’s not open to the public, usually inside the track where a hot pass at minimum is needed to even get near, much less attend. And even a hot pass won’t always get you into the meeting, even if you’re media. What goes on when the meeting actually starts? It’s about eight to 10 minutes of naming off dignitaries and then two to three minutes at most dedicated to actually talking about race procedure.
That 24-word sentence that ended the previous paragraph is every drivers meeting ever. Once in a while, you’ll get a driver or crew chief to actually raise their hands when a series director asks everyone if there are any questions, but that’s usually a result of a fustercluck XFINITY/Truck Series race the day prior and/or NASCAR making a bizarre penalty call in a race the day prior.
But I’m not here to dwell on the atmosphere of the Short Track Nationals. I presented it to show the dichotomy between local level short track racing and NASCAR.
Now let’s discuss last night’s snoozer of a race that was the Monster Energy All-Star Race.
First off, take a look at the “over the top” infield logo for this year’s race. It’s so bland and generic for a race that’s emphasizes “no points, just old fashioned, run for the money,” high energy racing. This looks like a freaking teaser logo that’s used to keep people in the dark about what’s really coming.
But if you think the race logo is phoned in, feast your eyes on the infield logo, via this Tweet from Jim Utter of Motorsport.com.
Charlotte Motor Speedway couldn’t even take the time to paint that generic race logo on the grass? They just painted Monster Energy on the grass.
I know I’m nitpicking here, but I must if this is not to be repeated.
CONCORD, N.C. – MAY 20: Monster Energy performers entertain the crowd prior to the start of the Monster Energy NASCAR All Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 20, 2017 in Concord, North Carolina. Photo: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Let’s now turn to the new sponsor of the Cup Series, Monster Energy.
Their idea of brining people to the track is MMA fights and motorcycle shows in a giant steel hamster ball that I’ve seen done with more at stake at a state carnival.
Now I understand perfectly that entertainment is not experienced in a vacuum and everyone has different tastes. But how is anything Monster Energy is doing leading to attracting a new crowd? Attendance at most tracks is still shaky and ratings are still plummeting, so it’s not working right now.
To make a long story short, everything Monster Energy is doing is all flash with no substance.
And now we come to the race itself.
It was yet another snooze-fest of a mile and a half race that had nothing of substance to it. Kyle Larson led from start to finish in the first two segments and Jimmie Johnson led all but two laps in the third segment before winning it.
On the final restart, Kyle Busch dove under Brad Keselowski only a few hundred yards past the start/finish line to take the lead and drove on to victory.
Clean air was key to victory.
We’ve seen this year after year where the driver who gets out front in the final segment is the driver who wins the race more often than not, last year being the exception where Joey Logano passed Larson in the closing laps of the final stage.
Yet for whatever reason, NASCAR continues to run this race at Charlotte, rather than moving it to a short track where aerodynamics aren’t so critical.
Year after year, the aero push effect has gotten worse at the intermediate tracks, especially at Charlotte, but NASCAR, International Speedway Corporation and Speedway Motorsports Inc. aren’t moving away from these types of tracks. Instead, they’ve gone to more of them. Hell, next season, we’re taking a race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and moving it to the intermediate track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
To put it simply, the biggest problem with NASCAR today is the disconnect between those in charge of the sport and those who sit in the seats, and it was on display at Charlotte more than any race this season. The disconnect encompasses everything I’ve mentioned in this piece and explains why people who take part in local level racing have such a negative opinion of NASCAR today.
Now I understand that a sport the size of NASCAR has many masters to serve. They have to please the drivers, teams, tracks, media and fans at the same time, and the interests of one entity listed isn’t always shared with another. In that respect, I understand NASCAR can’t please everybody. The best they can do is do what pleases the largest number of people and apologize to those it shafts in doing so.
But the most important entity of the bunch is the fans. If people aren’t buying tickets and/or watching the race on TV, the sport grinds to a halt.
Bottom line, take care of your customers and they’ll take care of you. And last night’s All-Star Race shows NASCAR still has work to do.
Kyle Busch captured his first ever NASCAR Cup Series win at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night, winning the Monster Energy All-Star race and the $1 million prize.
Busch was lined up in second beside Brad Keselowski to begin the final 10-lap shootout but quickly grabbed the lead and never looked back. He led all 10 laps on his drive to victory lane, becoming the 23rd different driver to win the event in its 33-race history.
“We’ve never won at Charlotte in a Cup car and we finally achieved that goal tonight,” an ecstatic Busch said after the race. “I won the All-Star Race. I won a million bucks. There’s reason to celebrate and reason to celebrate big.
“I can’t say enough about this team. I can’t say enough about (crew chief) Adam Stevens and these guys on the pit box. You can rely on them all day long. I had to do that tonight. We weren’t quite the fastest car, but we made the right changes when it mattered most. We made the right moves when it mattered most. We got the most out of our night tonight and got here to Victory Lane; just so relieved, elated, proud and excited, all at the same time.”
Kyle Larson won the first two stages of the All-Star race and led all of the 40-combined laps, but finished in second place after losing three positions during the final pit stop.
“My pit crew has been awesome all year, and I don’t want to take anything away from them,” Larson said after the race. “We came down pit road the leader, and three people passed us. That was pretty much the difference there. But in 10 laps, track position is huge. We just didn’t have it there at the end. We had the best car out there, for sure. In traffic, I thought it was really good. I thought we had it most of the race but that’s how racing goes. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. But I think we had a really fast car today. We’ll go onto the 600, that’s a long race, and try it again.”
Jimmie Johnson, the third stage winner, had to settle for third place.
“I was really hopeful of old tires and being on the bottom,” Johnson said. “They’d be able to hold that lane back, especially Kyle (Busch) and how good he is on restarts. And it just didn’t happen. He got in there. I had a decent start. The 11 (Denny Hamlin) spun his tires behind me, and he wasn’t able to push me and get me going.
“I had a couple of shots at him (Busch). He wasn’t handling too well at the start of the run, but I just drove too hard. I could see a million dollars out the windshield, and I just drove this Lowe’s Chevy way too hard in the corner a couple of times and gave up some ground. We learned a little bit tonight and we’ll come back next week (for the Coca-Cola 600) and have some more fun.”
Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top five finishers. Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Keselowski and Denny Hamlin finished in sixth through 10th, respectively.
All of the participating teams had the option of using one set of softer tires at some point during the race but it proved to be a non-factor, outweighed by the advantage of clean air which made passing the leader next to impossible.
Matt Kenseth’s race ended early with an oil leak after Stage 1 and finished in last place (20th). Ryan Newman made contact with Hamlin in Stage 3 and was unable to continue, finishing 19th. Dale Earnhardt Jr. struggled with the handling of his car all night, resulting in an 18th place finish.
The All-Star Open that preceded the All-Star race gave three drivers the opportunity to transfer into the main event. Clint Bowyer won the first stage, Ryan Blaney took the second stage and Daniel Suarez won The Open. Chase Elliott was voted into the All-Star race by winning the fan vote and was the only one of the four to finish in the top 10, placing seventh.
CONCORD, N.C. — Kyle Larson stormed to the Coors Light Pole Award on Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, taming the unique qualifying format to earn the No. 1 starting spot for Saturday’s Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Larson hurried the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet to a speed of 143.839 mph in the three-lap format, which requires teams to make a four-tire pit stop during their run. Despite a slight slip by his rear tire changer, Larson’s team avoided the pitfalls that snagged the other four competitors who advanced to the final round of qualifying.
Kyle Busch was second-fastest in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota with a speed of 143.826 mph, just one-hundredth slower than Larson’s time. Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch completed the top five.
Larson led 18 laps in last year’s All-Star event, relinquishing the top spot to eventual winner Joey Logano with two laps remaining. With a prime No. 1 starting position this year, Larson said he hoped to capitalize by winning one of three opening segments to lock his name into the final 10-lap, 10-car dash.
Photo Credit: Noel Lanier/On Pit Road
“Starting up front is a big deal,” Larson said. “If we can get out there and win that first stage I know we’re going to be in the top 10, and then build on our average finish. I’m very excited for (Saturday). And I’m definitely excited about getting the pole because I wasn’t expecting to qualify this good. To get the pole is pretty neat.”
The one-of-a-kind qualifying procedures — which abandon the pit-road speed limit for one night only — tripped up a handful of drivers. In the final round, Johnson overshot his pit stall and incurred a five-second penalty when his crew went over the wall too soon. Kurt Busch’s crew left two lug nuts loose, causing race officials to dock him five seconds for each.
In the first session, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth overshot their pit stalls trying to hustle in for service, costing them precious time as their teams backed their cars into position. Logano’s drastic overshoot kept Larson’s place on the bubble; the series points leader was the last of the five drivers who advanced to the final knockout round.
The crews for Martin Truex Jr. and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. each left one lug nut unsecured, incurring five-second penalties that kept them from advancing to the final qualifying round. Truex will start 14th with Stenhouse 16th on Saturday night.
Ryan Newman recovered from a long, smoky sideways slide through Turns 3 and 4 just before his pit entry. He avoided contact, but his Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet was the second slowest of the 16 drivers in the opening round.
“Hoping next year maybe they’ll award style points,” Newman told FOX Sports after making his stellar save. He’ll start 15th in Saturday night’s invitational.
Four more drivers will be added Saturday to round out the 20-car field for Saturday night’s main event. Three drivers will transfer as segment winners from the 50-lap Monster Energy Open preliminary race. One more will be added as the winner of fan voting.
NASCAR heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway this week for the Camping World Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Friday night and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series All-Star race Saturday evening. Both events will be televised on FS1.
Please check below for the complete schedule of events. All times are Eastern.
Thursday, May 18:
On Track:
5-5:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice
7-7:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice
Friday, May 19:
On Track: 1-2:10 p.m.: Cup Series Practice (Monster Energy All-Star Race) – FS1
2:10-2:25 p.m.: Cup Series Pit Road Speed Practice (Monster Energy All-Star Race) – FS1
3-4:25 p.m.: Cup Series Practice (Monster Energy Open) – FS1
4:45 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
6:05 p.m.: Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying Round 1 (All-Star Race) – FS1
7:30 p.m. (approx): Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying Round 2 (All-Star Race) – FS1
8:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 (134 laps, 201 miles) – FS1
Saturday, May 20:
On Track: 4:35 p.m.: Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying (Open; Multi-Vehicle, Two Rounds) – FS1
6 p.m.: Cup Series Monster Energy Open (20 laps, 20 laps, 10 laps) – FS1
8 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race (20 laps, 20 laps, 20 laps, 10 laps) – FS1 (time approx.)
The All-Star Drivers:
The All-Star race will be made up of 20 drivers. There are currently 16 drivers who are locked into the race. They include Chris Buescher, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr. and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Three drivers will earn a spot by competing in the Monster Energy Open which is comprised of three stages. The winner of each stage will move on to the All-Star race. The final 20th spot will be determined by the fan vote.
Format:
The All-Star race will feature four stages (20 laps, 20 laps, 20 laps, 10 laps) for a total of 70 laps. The final stage of 10 laps will feature 10 drivers.
The winner of each of the first three stages will earn a spot in the final stage, as long as they are running on the lead lap after the third stage.
The cars with the best average finish in the first three stages will make up the remaining seven spots for the 10-car final stage.
The 10 cars will be lined up by the average finish of the first three stages and will be given the option to pit. Exit off pit road will determine the starting order for the final stage.
The winner will receive $1,000,000.
Strategy:
Each team will have one set of softer tires which will provide better grip and speed. The teams can use these tires at their discretion any time during the 70 lap event. But, if a team chooses to use the softer tires to begin the final stage, they will have to start behind the teams who are on regular tires.
Qualifying Notes:
Qualifying for the All-Star Race will include the “no speed limit” four-tire pit stop. Each team will have three timed laps and must include a mandatory four-tire pit stop with no enforced pit-road speed limits. The five quickest teams will advance to the final round of qualifying which will determine starting positions one through five. The team that completes the fastest stop will also earn the Pit Crew Competition Award.
Ryan Blaney is still searching for his first victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series after another dominant performance ends with just a top-five finish in the Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway.
The weekend for Blaney started with taking pole position on Friday, the first of his career and first for Wood Brothers Racing since Ricky Rudd at Talladega Superspeedway in April of 2004.
He led the first 10 laps before Martin Truex Jr. powered by his outside exiting Turn 2 on lap 11.
Blaney was near the front the entire race with a 2.1 average running position, the best of anyone. He never ran lower than fifth at any point in the race.
It should come as no surprise then that he finished third in the first stage and won the second stage.
He and Truex traded battled for the lead in the final stage, with Truex taking it with 87 laps to go and Blaney with 46 to go.
But the winning move belonged to Truex, who made it exiting Turn 2 with 24 to go and held of Blaney on subsequent restarts to win the race.
Blaney restarted second in the outside lane on the final restart with two laps to go. But while the outside was the lane of choice early in the race when the Sun was still out, it proved inferior under the cover of darkness.
He was unable to hold the advance of Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski and settled for a fourth-place finish.
“Yeah, it happens I guess. We weren’t very good on the long run,” he said on pit road after the race. “I felt that we had a great short run car tonight and I thought that was going to play right into our hands at the end. The 78 got us on that restart somehow. I don’t know. I was super loose there on the last restarts and the 78 got me spinning my tires a little bit. It kind of stinks. I think that it says a lot about this team to go out and lead some laps and go have a shot and win races.”
Brad Keselowski’s adventurous day up and down the running order ended with a second-place finish in the Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway.
Starting the day 17th, Keselowski demonstrated the strength of his car early, going from 14th to eighth in one lap on the lap 55 restart and worked his way into a fifth-place finish at the end of the first stage.
He dropped back through the field after electing to pit under the fifth caution of the race on lap 97, but drove from 24th to fifth in just 10 laps on the ensuing restart.
On lap 120, however, he made an unscheduled stop for a loose left-rear wheel. Adding insult to injury, he was handed a pass through penalty for driving through too many pit boxes. He rejoined the race in 35th, two laps down.
He elected to take a wave around under the following two cautions to put himself back on the lead lap. He slowly worked his way back into the top-10.
Keselowski was fourth on the final restart. He was still fourth coming to the white flag. But going into Turn 1, he drove to the outside of Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick and drove on to finish second.
“Well, so much happened, I’m not sure I even know,” Keselowski said of the final restart in his post-race media availability. “But we were really good all day and just never had a chance to show it. Every time we started to pass cars and cycle up to the front, we had some kind of issue, which was a real bummer to not be able to showcase the strength that we had. Towards the end we were able to get some runs and make the most of it, and I think we went from probably 20th with 100 to go to second, which was a pretty big climb in the sport. That’s something to be proud of, but I kind of feel like I would have liked to have seen if it would have just played out normal, and I think we might have had a shot at him (Martin Truex Jr.).”
Keselowski leaves Kansas third in points, 67 behind points leader Kyle Larson.
