Martin Truex, Jr. Breezes to Victory at Kentucky

An absolutely dominating performance by Martin Truex, Jr. at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night.  Truex led 152 laps enroute to his third win of the season including the first two stages of the race.

At one point he had a more than 15 second lead, but it came down to a final restart in overtime when the engine of Kurt Busch's car blew up and dumped oil on the track to bring out a caution.  That meant a big decision for Truex and his team; do they pit and give up the lead, or take their chances on old tires when everybody behind him has new ones?  Truex stayed out and left the rest of the field in the dust on the restart.

Truex had lapped so many cars along the way that only eight cars were on the lead lap at the end of the race.  He got a great push from Kyle Larson on the restart to zoom past Kyle Busch and stayed in front until a wreck behind him after the first overtime lap brought out another caution and froze the field.

Larson finished second after starting the race at the back of the field because he failed inspection before qualifying.  Chase Elliott came in third with Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch completing the Top Five.

A wreck early in the race kept Jimmie Johnson winless at Kentucky, one of three tracks where he's never won.  Watkins Glen and Chicagoland are the others.  Brad Keselowski's car also was taken out in that wreck.

Next up on the schedule is New Hampshire Motor Speedway next Sunday.