With half of the Coca-Cola 600 complete, Wisconsin's Matt Kenseth is dominating with a Ford has been on a rail all night. It is the same machine he used to thoroughly stink up the show at Texas last month, and he seems well on his way to replicating that performance as he tries to win his second Coca-Cola 600. His first career Sprint Cup win came in the 2000 running of the 600, when he was a rookie.
Marcos Ambrose, of Tasmania, runs second, ahead of All-Star Race winner Carl Edwards, A.J. Allmendinger, and Denny Hamlin. The top-four drivers all run Ford Fusions, providing all the proof necessary that the automaker has turned the corner from also-ran after two seasons dominated by Chevrolet and Toyota to the dominant force in the sport.
There have been no significant accidents during the race. The only incident to draw a caution flag was a spin by Bobby Labonte. Jamie McMurray blew an engine at lap 181. The native of tornado-ravaged Joplin, MO, had just been passed for the lead by Kenseth when his Chevrolet erupted in a plume of smoke.