Martin Truex Jr. Dominates in Kentucky, Again

Posted on July 16, 2018

Martin Truex Jr. completely dominated the NASCAR race Saturday night (7/14) at Kentucky Speedway for the second straight year as he claimed the checkered flag in the Quaker State 400.

The defending 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion and 2017 winner of the Quaker State 400 made the statement early that he was unleashing the horsepower of his #78 Toyota when he won the right to start the race from the pole position for Saturday’s prime-time race at Kentucky Speedway.

He underlined that statement when the green flag waived and he led the first 37 laps of the race. While there were seven drivers that exchanged the lead of the race 14 times, Truex Jr. continued proving he was going to be the car to beat throughout the race as he led a race high 174 of 267 laps in the race. To put the domination in perspective, the next highest on the total laps led during the race was Kurt Busch who was at the front of the field for just 45 laps.

Some drivers had issues on track and of a mechanical nature during the race. However, despite these issues the race was only interrupted by the yellow flag four times including two for the end of the first two stages which Truex Jr. won.

The underlined statement that he had brought the horsepower and he was the car to beat was completed with an exclamation point as Truex Jr. crossed the finish line first with a nearly two-second margin of victory to claim his second consecutive win at Kentucky Speedway and his fourth win in the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season.

The only problems that Treux Jr. appeared to have Saturday night were his car rolling away from him after his victory burnout and finding the right route to Victory Lane to celebrate.

Ryan Blaney came in with a second place finish as Brad Keselowski taking home a third place finish. Kyle Busch finished in fourth place and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five. See the complete race results in the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart here.

Following the race at Kentucky Speedway and with five wins in the season to date each; Kyle Busch remains the leader in the point standings with Kevin Harvick holding steady in second place. Martin Truex Jr. closed the gap a little, but remains in third place in the standings. Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski each hold steady another week in fourth and fifth places respectively. See the complete Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.

There are only seven races remaining before the start of NASCAR’s post-season. That means the drivers that are not locked in for the playoffs will be looking for some magic over the next month and a half. Perhaps they will be able to find it this Sunday afternoon (7/22) when the series heads to the “Magic Mile” of New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301.

By: Buck Stevens

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2018 Quaker State 400

SPARTA, KY - JULY 14: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, leads the field past the green flag to start the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at Kentucky Speedway on July 14, 2018 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo courtesy of NASCARmedia.com/by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)
SPARTA, KY - JULY 14: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, leads the field past the green flag to start the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at Kentucky Speedway on July 14, 2018 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo courtesy of NASCARmedia.com/by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)

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