Austin Dillon Earns 1st-Ever Cup Win at NASCAR at Charlotte 2017

Austin Dillon only led for two laps but held off Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. to win the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Dillon refused to pit with the majority of drivers down the stretch, but the No. 3 car had enough fuel to make it the rest of the way. When Jimmie Johnson ran out of gas in the final few laps, the opportunity opened up for the underdog.

Despite an almost two-hour delay in the middle of the race, Dillon came through with his first career Monster Energy Series win.

Fox NASCAR captured the winning finish:

Here are the final results from Sunday's race:

1. Austin Dillon (3)

2. Kyle Busch (18)

3. Martin Truex Jr. (78)

4. Matt Kenseth (20)

5. Denny Hamlin (11)

6. Kurt Busch (41)

7. Erik Jones (77)

8. Kevin Harvick (4)

9. Ryan Newman (31)

10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88)

Truex was undoubtedly the best in the field throughout the race, leading for 233 laps. Dillon and Johnson knew the only chance was to avoid a pit stop at lap 368 to make up the difference.

Johnson ran out of fuel on lap 399, but Dillon just made it, as Bob Pockrass of ESPN noted:

Busch and Truex finished in second and third, respectively, only about a second behind the eventual winner.

The NASCAR account provided the celebration in Victory Lane:

Truex and Busch were battling throughout the day, starting from Stage 1. This move by Busch on Lap 90 helped him get the first victory of the day:

Truex ended up in second place in the first stage, followed by pole-sitter Kevin Harvick.

Unfortunately, this was the last action for a long time, as rain and lightning caused a delay that lasted an hour and 40 minutes. Considering the length of the race to begin with, this made quite an impact.

Nick DeGroot of Motorsport.com put the break in context:

The restart worked out well for Truex, who avoided a few challengers to remain in front and come away with a win in Stage 2 ahead of Johnson and Matt Kenseth. It was Truex's sixth stage win of the year, most in the Monster Energy series.

Although Truex continued to lead the majority of laps, as he has for three straight years at this event, a late caution changed the order just before the end of the third stage.

Denny Hamlin ended up with the Stage 3 win ahead of Busch and Kenseth, thanks mostly to his crew with a fast pit stop.

Truex regained the lead on a restart, but the big story as the race came to an end was the collection of drivers refusing to pit down the stretch.

It ended up working out well for Dillon to earn the first win for the No. 3 car at the Coca-Cola 600 since Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Two of the favorites coming into the race failed to even finish 20 laps due to a bad early crash. Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott were done for the day after this collision:

Jeffrey Earnhardt was also forced into the garage after his debris helped contribute to the accident.

Kyle Larson finished early as well, although his incident came much later in the night. He hit the wall just before the third stage ended and it led to sparks flying:

The point leader coming into the day ended his night after 292 laps.

Although this wasn't the best night for everyone, the drivers can now get back to preparing for shorter races with nothing longer than 400 miles for the next couple of months. The AAA 400 Drive for Autism is next up on Sunday, June 4, from Dover International Speedway.

Kenseth is the defending champion at this event, but fans should expect plenty of drama at the Monster Mile.