2016 Coca-Cola 600: Five takeaways from Charlotte

Here are five takeaways from the 2016 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Every single year, the Coca-Cola 600 is about endurance and making the right strategies to have a chance to win at the end of the race. On Sunday, it felt like it was one man driving and the field trying to catch him.

From the very beginning, Martin Truex Jr. dominated the race and he ended up leading a record amount of laps at the track. There weren’t many cautions on the day and the race had a clean start.

If there was any drama to follow, it was Jimmie Johnson pushing Truex Jr. just enough to the point where he couldn’t fully rest comfortably with his lead. Truex Jr. also had a tire issue early, but he was able to overcome it as well.

Other drivers like Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski were strong, but they just didn’t have the car they felt to push Truex Jr. enough.

With 60 laps left, Truex Jr. maintained his lead heading into the stretch run. With 10 laps left to win, Truex Jr. would hold and complete the most dominant race in the history of the sport.

1. Martin Truex Jr. dominated most of the race.

To say Martin Truex Jr. dominated the 2016 Coca-Cola 600 dominated the Coca-Cola 600 would be an understatement. He led the most laps in the history of the race and the most miles in the history of any race in NASCAR history. With the win, he now will have a spot in the Chase.

2. Don’t sleep on Jimmie Johnson

While Truex Jr. was dominating early in the race, Jimmie Johnson was on the track making sure that he wasn’t putting the rest of the field to shame. Throughout the race, Johnson would battle with Truex Jr. for the lead.

The biggest battle came at Lap 60, when Johnson and Truex Jr. battled off of a restart for the lead. Johnson appeared to have cleared Truex Jr., but he had enough to hold on and hold him off on the big restart.

3. The race lacked excitement

While Truex Jr. was having a record night on the track, the race for all intents and purposes lacked any excitement or real drama to follow. NASCAR has had issues maintaining fan interest because of races like this and this was a night that could have used more drama and some serious dilemma on the track. It didn’t and the fans felt the marathon by watching it to.

4. Joey Logano couldn’t bring any “All-Star Luck” with him

After Joey Logano was the winner at the All-Star Race last week and was a major factor in the Xfinity Series race on Saturday, he didn’t have that same push in the Coca-Cola 600.

A speeding penalty dropped him back and he was never a real contender to make something happen on the track on Sunday night.

5. Ryan Newman put his engineering knowledge to good use

With all the talk lately of tire issues and making sure they’re tightened down on the car, the announcers in the FOX booth brought up a conversation they had with Ryan Newman about how many lug nuts you really needed to have a tire tight.

Putting his engineering degree to good use, Newman responded, “Three points make a plane.”

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