After multiple races in the 2016 NASCAR season where Martin Truex Jr. was set to win the race and fell short at the end, the #78 Toyota dominated the Coca-Cola 600 to win in historic fashion in the Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

At the start of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season Martin looked to be set to win the Daytona 500 coming out of the last turn on the last lap only to have Denny Hamlin pull out the win by literally just inches. Since then the #78 team would be on the cusp of winning a handful of times with dominating performances, only to have either a late mistake or bad luck keep them out of Victory Lane.

Sunday (5/29) Martin was behind the wheel of the #78 Toyota in the pole position for the drop of the green flag to start the race. He would race out to the lead on that first lap and make NASCAR history by not only leading the most laps in the race, but also the most laps in the sports history in the 600 mile race. Martin was the race leader for 392 laps of the 400 lap race. That equates to spending 588 miles as the leader in the 600 mile race.

Of course, as Martin has found out earlier this season, leading all the laps except the last one does not make you the winner of the race. This time though the laps Martin was the leader DID include that last lap to capture his first win of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Kevin Harvick claimed the runner-up finish with Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski claiming third, fourth and fifth places respectively. See the complete race results for the Coca-Cola 600 here.

Following the Memorial Day Weekend NASCAR Sprint Cup race, Kevin Harvick remains the points leader with Kurt Busch moving up a spot to second place. Jimmie Johnson moves up two places to take over third while Kyle Busch falls two spots to fourth. Carl Edwards slipped a spot to round out the top five in the points. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings here.

That win adds martin Truex Jr.’s name to the list of drivers with the phrase “all-but guaranteed a spot in The Chase” behind their names. That list of Sprint Cup drivers with at least one win this season now includes eight names. See the Chase Grid here.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series heads to the track known as the “Tricky Triangle” next. The Axalta ‘We Paint Winners’ 400 will take place Sunday, June 5th at Pocono Raceway.

By: Buck Stevens