CONCORD, N.C. (May 26, 2016) – Furniture Row Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. captured the pole Thursday evening for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Driving the No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota, Truex recorded the fastest lap in the final round of 12 with a time/speed of 28.077 seconds at 192.328 miles per hour. He saved the best for last at the 1.5-mile oval after posting the 12th fastest speed in the first round and fifth in the second.
It was the second pole of the season for Truex and the ninth of his career. He also sat on the pole earlier in the month at the Sprint Cup Series race in Kansas.
“It feels awesome,” said Truex. “Obviously I am very proud of my team for the effort. We really had to work pretty hard for it today. It was just one of those Charlotte deals where things were continuously changing and we were just chasing the race track and making changes to our Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota. I just never got it really close to right until that last adjustment.
“We get the first pit stall Sunday for the longest race of the year (600 miles). We’re going to be on pit road a lot Sunday night and that’s certainly going to be an advantage. Looking forward to getting to work on Saturday and hopefully we’ll be good for Sunday night.”
Positions 2-12 went to: Joey Logano (28.124/192.007), Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Trevor Bayne, Paul Menard and Chase Elliott.
As part of NASCAR’s 600 Miles of Remembrance, Truex’s Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota is carrying the name of U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Jeffrey Bohr, who was killed in action on April 10, 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sunday’s race will be televised on FOX, starting at 4 p.m. MT (6 ET).