CONCORD, N.C. – Regardless of whether he ends his tough-luck run this season, Martin Truex Jr. ensured Sunday he would leave Charlotte Motor Speedway with a NASCAR record.
The Furniture Row Racing driver broke Jim Paschal’s record for most laps led in a Coca-Cola 600. Paschal led 335 laps in winning NASCAR’s longest race in 1967.
Truex started from the pole and had led 336 of the first 342 laps at the 1.5-mile oval. He set the new mark during a caution in which he held the lead after a pit stop.
Jimmie Johnson nearly broke Paschal’s mark in 2004, leading 334 of 400 laps to win his second Coca-Cola 600.
Truex has been dominant in several races this season, leading the most laps at Texas and Kansas, but hadn’t finished in the top five since placing second in the season-opening Daytona 500 (the closest finish in the race’s history).