Martin Truex Jr. won the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. He was followed in the top five by Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch.
Truex far outclassed the field, winning all three stages of the race. Both Larson and Kyle Busch spent time up front, with Larson coming from the back of the field after not making a qualifying lap due to inspection issues, but no driver had anything for Truex, even when a late-race caution set up a dash to the finish.
The first stage was incident-free, with the only yellow flag a competition caution after heavy rain on Friday.
Several wrecks slowed stage two, though, including a collision between Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, and Jimmie Johnson during stage two. Keselowski and Johnson would have their nights ended by the wreck, but Bowyer would continue. Kasey Kahne and Trevor Bayne would also collide only a few laps later, and neither would finish the race. Bayne did get back on track, but spun a few laps later, ending his race. Joey Gase also had a single-car incident during the stage.
As the laps wound down in the final stage, Truex was able to put all but a handful of cars a lap or more in arrears, building a lead of 15 seconds with a handful of laps remaining, a half-lap worth of distance.
Truex, though, had a scare at the end of the race, as Kurt Busch lost the engine on the No. 41 with two laps to go, bringing out the caution and sending the race into overtime. Every car except the No. 78 pitted for tires, leaving Truex admittedly worried, but he still blew the field away on the restart, leaving Larson, Elliott and Kyle Busch to duke it out for second. Matt Kenseth and Daniel Suarez got together coming to the white flag, bringing the yellow out and ending the race.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to the track on Sunday, July 16, when they head to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Overton’s 301 at 3 P.M. Eastern. The race airs on NBCSN and PRN.