What a day for racing. Every year the greatest day in auto-racing is the Sunday before Memorial Day. Three of the biggest races in history are held on the same day. In the morning the F1 series runs the Monaco Grand Prix. Then in the afternoon the Indianapolis 500, the most well known race in the world, is run. And then, as the Sun sets, the Coca-Cola 600, the longest race in Nascar, is run. What a day.

The 600 started with Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards on the front row, and the two of them swapped the lead over th next couple laps. Not long after, though, three drivers established themselves as the leaders, and they dominated the rest of the race. Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Martin Truex Jr. were the three. Truex and Busch each lead over 100 laps, while Kevin was less consistent, sometimes leading, other times drifting back.

One driver, who was expected to do well, failed to meet expectation. Jimmie Johnson. Jimmie was up front at the beginning of the race, but spun early. He recovered and charged toward the front. However, he was not destined to repeat his win from the year previous. He spun again, but this time he rammed the inside retaining wall, destroying his car.

One of the races biggest highlights was the return of one of Nascar’s finest. Kyle Busch had broken both his left foot and right leg in February, and now three months later, he returned to the Sprint Cup Series. He ran very well the whole race, running as high as second. He finished in 11th place. He was very light-hearted throughout the whole race, and he managed to drive all 600 miles.

The race did not have many cautions, but there were occasional spins or little things like that. So when the final 100 laps came, it didn’t seem like there would be a very exciting finish. Anyone who thought that has never been so wrong. The final caution came with about sixty laps to go, and that is just outside the fuel window. Many drivers stayed on the track, but a select few pitted, hoping to make it to the finish and not run out of gas.

Martin Truex Jr. was the leader at the time, and he was almost invincible. His only weakness was restarts. Well, there weren’t going to be any more of those. Truex and almost every driver in the field pitted with about twenty laps to go. This left five drivers out who were trying to make it on fuel. One, Denny Hamlin, had more than enough fuel, but he was to far behind the leader to be a threat.

That left Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. All four were unsure if they could stretch their fuel. They ran in the order just listed. Carl and Biffle were both well ahead of the field, and Biffle was closing on Edwards. Ten to go: Greg was still closing. Five to go: same thing. Three to go: Biffle suddenly slowed. His fuel tank was running dry. He was forced to literally turn his car off to save gas. Final lap: every driver, crew member, and pit reporter held their breath, waiting to see if Edwards could make it to the finish. He made it. For the first time with his new team, Joe Gibbs Racing, Carl won a race. And he still had enough fuel to do a little burnout. And let’s not forget his signature back-flip. Truex managed to finish fifth, though he was obviously frustrated about it.