iStock/Thinkstock(CONCORD, N.C.) — Austin Dillon had just enough fuel to get him across the finish line ahead of Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, earning him his first career victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series by taking the Coca-Cola 600.
Busch and Truex hit pit road on Lap 368 of 400 while Dillon stayed out, trailing Jimmie Johnson, who also stayed on the track. But Johnson ran out of gas with fewer than three laps remaining, opening the door for Dillon.
It was a day of firsts — first Cup Series win for Dillon who was working for the first time in a Cup Series race with a new crew chief, Justin Alexander, and with a new gas tank. But it was also a day that hearkened back in history, with Dillon wining in his grandfather, Richard Childress’, No. 3 Chevrolet, the first win for the No. 3 Chevy since the late Dale Earnhart won his last race in October of 2000. Childress retired the number after Earnhardt’s death in the Daytona 500 in 2001, bring it back when his grandson ran his first full Monster Energy Series season in 2014.
Other top finishers at the Coca-Cola 600 included Matt Kenseth in fourth, and Denny Hamlin in fifth.
Next up is the AAA 400 Drive for Autism Sunday at Dover International Speedway.
Here are the top-ten standings in the Monster Energy Cup Series following Sunday’s race:
1) Martin Truex Jr. — 491 points
2) Kyle Larson — 486
3) Brad Keselowski — 409
4) Kevin Harvick — 388
5) Kyle Busch — 386
6) Jamie McMurray — 385
7) Chase Elliott — 362
8) Jimmie Johnson — 359
9) Clint Bowyer — 343
10) Joey Loganao — 336
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