Truex Dominates in Kentucky

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Quaker State 400 from Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night.

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Truex won both stages and led a race-high 174 laps on his way to a dominant victory.  Truex did the same thing last year at Kentucky, and it propelled him into his championship run.

Truex said his team has the perfect notebook for Kentucky.

“We love coming here,” Truex said.  “We made it look easy last year but it certainly wasn’t.”

Truex started on the pole for Saturday’s race, and he said his team worked overnight to make the car better from practice and qualifying.

“We thought we were good yesterday and we tweaked on it for today,” Truex said.

Ryan Blaney finished second on Saturday, and he said it was a step in the right direction following a few weeks of poor finishes.

“After the last few weeks we’ve had, this is a very good positive for us,” Blaney said.  “Hopefully we can get it going in the right direction.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Ryan Blaney

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Kyle Busch

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Kurt Busch

7. Erik Jones

8. Aric Almirola

9. Kyle Larson

10. Joey Logano

11. Paul Menard

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Chase Elliott

14. Jimmie Johnson

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Denny Hamlin

17. Jamie McMurray

18. David Ragan

19. Matt Kenseth

20. William Byron

21. Ryan Newman

22. Austin Dillon

23. Chris Buescher

24. Michael McDowell

25. Kasey Kahne

26. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

27. Darrell Wallace Jr.

28. Ross Chastain

29. Ty Dillon

30. AJ Allmendinger

31. Corey LaJoie

32. BJ McLeod

33. Landon Cassill

34. Timmy Hill

35. Jesse Little

36. Garrett Smithley

37. Matt DiBenedetto

38. JJ Yeley

39. Alex Bowman

Sarah Crabill/Getty Images