NASCAR Barometer: Truex Outruns Bad Luck in Charlotte

The bad luck that shadowed Martin Truex Jr. earlier in 2016 couldn't keep up with the No. 78 Chevrolet in the Coca-Cola 600. Truex was thoroughly dominant throughout the weekend, and led all but eight laps of the 400-lap affair Sunday evening. His drubbing of the field is unparalleled in NASCAR history and set new marks for dominance that will likely never be eclipsed. It was the fastest Coca-Cola 600 ever, and he led the most miles in a single NASCAR race and was only passed on the track once in the marathon event.

Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson were the only cars left in the field that could even come close to the pace of Truex, but neither had measure enough to wrest any serious control of the race. Interestingly, the resurgence Ford teams experienced two weeks ago in the Sprint Showdown and All-Star races didn't repeat on Sunday. The highest finisher for the blue oval was Brad Keselowski in fifth, and only teammate Joey Logano successfully cracked the top 10 for the manufacturer.

UPGRADE

Martin Truex Jr. – Truex was the dominant force in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, setting the race record for most laps led in his runaway victory. There simply aren't enough expressions to convey how controlling his drive was. The win was a long time coming after he narrowly missed winning the Daytona 500 and led the most laps in other races this season before failing to cross the finish line first. He's also the defending winner of this week's race at Pocono and clearly the strongest Toyota powered driver at the moment. His pace at Charlotte was so superior to the competition that the rest of the garage must be wondering how much of that advantage the team will carry to Pocono.

Kevin Harvick – As usual, Harvick came on strongest when NASCAR's longest race was in its latest stages. The No. 4 is notorious for coming from slightly off the pace to the front of the pack when the laps wind down, and that's exactly what he did last week in Charlotte. He finished the night in second position but had no shot at reeling in or challenging the No. 78 machine. His second-place finish is his second in the last three races and his third of the season. Pocono is a track where Harvick has never won, but he was runner-up there twice in the last three races, which would continue the trend for fantasy owners.

Jimmie Johnson – Johnson's early season slump appears to be behind him after being firmly in contention to challenge the dominant Truex Sunday night. Johnson's Chevrolet was fast all weekend, and he was the only car that had the pace to track down Truex at any point in Sunday's race, but his five laps led was paltry compared to the domination of Furniture Row Racing. Still, Johnson's top-five finish is his first since Richmond and means that he could be a bit more reliable for fantasy owners in the near future. He finished third and sixth in the two Pocono races last season and has three career wins at the Pennsylvania triangle, which could make him a good early choice for rosters this week.

Greg Biffle – Biffle successfully parlayed his success from the Sprint Showdown two weeks ago to a top run Sunday in the Coca-Cola 600. The Roush Fenway Racing team made significant strides in performance, and the No. 16 leveraged that surge to win a segment in the Showdown and deliver a confident top-15 run a week late in the 600. His 11th-place result is his best of the regular season races so far and gives the team a bit of confidence from which to begin working. Fantasy players need to remember that Biffle scored a fifth-place finish in the fall Pocono race last season in a challenging year. He could be in store for even more this year.

Denny Hamlin – Hamlin comes into Pocono this week with the most wins at the track for an active driver at four. He won the Xfinity race at Charlotte last Saturday before scoring a top-five in the 600, and the weekend could give the team belief that they can improve on what they did in Pocono last year. His best finish at the track last season was 10th in the spring, but he'll be aiming for more this week. Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing may now be a bit behind the No. 78 satellite team in terms of speed, but they're still the organization to beat. Hamlin's run last week in Charlotte should be a signal to fantasy owners that he's a prime choice for rosters this week in Pennsylvania.

DOWNGRADE

Ryan Newman – Last week was another where Newman failed to find the success he sought by joining Richard Childress Racing. The team simply didn't have the speed to be able to consistently run among the top 10 at Charlotte, and a pit road speeding penalty made his night unnecessarily difficult. That story has been somewhat of a broken record regardless of the track this season. He only has three top-10 finishes so far in 2016, but this team should be finishing there regularly. Newman won at Pocono from pole in 2003, but he failed to finish in the top 20 there in both visits last season. Newman needs to regain the consistency that took him to the finale of the Chase two seasons ago.

Joey Logano – Logano's good fortune of overcoming the competition to win two weeks ago in the All-Star race didn't follow him through Sunday's 600-mile race. The Penske Racing driver was caught with his crew over the wall too soon in the middle of the race, which put him behind the pack with a pass-through penalty. Despite the race being long enough to overcome mistakes, when the leader is perfect, you lose that chance. The team didn't give up, though. They battled back to finish ninth but probably could have done more had they not made that one simple mistake. Logano's average Pocono result is just under 16th from 14 career starts, and frustration from Charlotte should motivate the team to do better this week.

Carl Edwards – Last year's winner of the Coca-Cola 600 was nabbed for speeding while running third last week. The penalty alone would have dug a deep hole for Edwards to climb out of in order to have a shot at repeating in NASCAR's longest race, but then he sped again while serving the original penalty. Since the offense was his second, he then had to serve a stop-and-go penalty, which ended any chances he may have had of recovering. The compounded penalties were costly, and he finished 18th despite having the speed to do better. With just one top-10 Pocono finish in his last six races at the track, he'll be hoping for a significant change in fortune this week.

Ryan Blaney – Unfortunately, Blaney was not able to replicate the pace that saw him charge through the field after a penalty in the Sprint Showdown. The exhibition race two weeks ago signaled that he could have been one of the top performers in the main event on Sunday, but it wasn't to be. Blaney found himself off of the lead lap late Sunday and never showed the pace necessary to contend for a top-10. A blown rear tire put any hopes of recovery he may have had to bed, too. Blaney has no Sprint Cup experience at Pocono, and it may be best for fantasy owners to wait and see what he does in practice and qualifying before selecting him for their lineups.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Chase Elliott – For yet another week, Elliott takes the biggest surprise slot. It shouldn't come as a huge shock that he had a good outing in the Coca-Cola 600 after how he raced two weeks ago, but to maintain that performance over 600 miles is a significant achievement for the young driver. Elliott continues to show that his chances of winning a race in his rookie season are very real. His eighth-place finish on Sunday was his ninth top-10 of the season and his fourth in a row. Pocono will be a completely new challenge for the rookie with no significant experience at the track, but fantasy players could still play him with confidence.