Added on May 28, 2019  The News Wheel  
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Toyota’s Martin Truex Jr Wins Longest NASCAR Race of the Year

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Truex crosses the finish line
Photo: Toyota

Martin Truex Jr took victory in the NASCAR Sprint Series for the third time in 2019, earning the winner’s trophy at the longest race of the season: The Coca-Cola 600.

The 600-mile race is a difficult one to win by any standards, and one Truex had only won once before, four years ago. This time around he led 116 of the 400 laps, and it was almost a miracle that he was even able to finish, having suffered a flat tire and hit a wall early on.

“What a race,” he said. “You never know what can happen in these things. We were so good early on, blew that tire, hit the fence and I’m like we’re done. How are we going to fix this thing? I didn’t know how bad it was. The guys worked hard and fixed it up.”

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The final restart of the race took place with only four laps to go, and at that point Truex was only on the second row. But he had the car to take the fight to the cars ahead, and after giving the cameras a great shot of the leaders fighting four-wide, he punched out front and never relinquished his advantage, driving home with the win in the No. 19 Toyota Camry.

Truex is now sixth in the overall driver standings and Kyle Busch, driving the other Camry, leads them once more, having finished third after leading 79 laps. Toyota continues to head the manufacturer standings with a 17-point lead over Ford and a 49-point lead over Chevrolet, having won eight races over their four and one, respectively.

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