Martin Truex Jr. just wanted to finally finish a race at Daytona. He certainly did more than that.
Truex had endured a rough Speedweeks and was seeking redemption in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Daytona 500. He found it as he finished inches behind Denny Hamlin after challenging for the victory in the final laps.
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Truex lost to fellow Toyota driver Hamlin in the closest finish in the history of the restrictor-plate race at Daytona International Speedway. But for Truex, it had to be almost a victory in itself.
“I had the lead until the start of the Daytona [written] on the wall,” Truex said. “… [Hamlin] just side-drafted and I just should have — I probably should have run him up a little bit more, but I thought we were close enough that I could keep that foot or so, but I couldn’t so I lost it the last second.”
His Furniture Row Racing team, a single-car operation, switched to Toyota this year and formed an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing. Throughout Sunday’s race, Truex worked with the JGR drivers at the front of the pack. He rode between Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, or Matt Kenseth and Busch at times, late in the race.
Truex entered the race determined but needing to overcome some on-track obstacles.
After getting crashed late in his Can-Am Duel on Thursday, Truex joined four other drivers in starting at the rear of the field in a backup car.
“All in all, it’s been a rough week — we tore up some cars, we made it to the last lap on every race and this one we finally made it to the end,” he said.
He crashed in the Sprint Unlimited non-points race, did not take a qualifying lap after a roof flap issue found during that session, then had that wreck in the qualifying race that put him in the rear on Sunday.
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And then things turned around. He ran among the leaders throughout the 500, was in the mix when Kenseth tried to make his move and was pushed up the track by Hamlin.
Suddenly, Truex had a shot at the win. He held off Hamlin until the final moments, then was edged out by inches at the finish line.
Could he have done anything differently?
"The last lap, we were in great position behind Matt," he said. "Felt like if Matt would have stayed in front of us, maybe he would have probably held off Denny. He went up to try to block his run, Denny cut inside, made it three‑wide. Just side-drafted me off of turn four all the way to the line. I felt like I had enough momentum to keep him behind me. I did all the way up until that last couple feet. He just shot out that last couple inches on me right before the line.
"Wish I would have crowded him up the track a little bit more late down the frontstretch. Those are split‑second decisions. He came out on the right end of it today."
While he was pleased with the effort, Truex admits that coming so close did hurt a little.
“Just gonna have to watch that on the highlight reel for the rest of my career, I suppose, rest of my life," he said with a chuckle. "I remember when it happened to Mark Martin. Poor guy, been so close here so many times, and they still show that highlight. The picture of that race is in the tunnel when you come in in turn 1, so I have a feeling I’m going to have to see that same thing for a long time. So it hurts a little bit, but lots to be proud of, for sure.”
Still, this outing could pay off even more as the season continues. Truex saw he and his team working well with the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers as “a big step in getting this relationship kicked off.”
Obviously he impressed his fellow Toyota drivers, as Kenseth referred to him as his adopted teammate in his post-race comments.
Looking ahead, Truex sees that as being part of the reward of a stellar Daytona 500.
“We’re going to continue to work hard to make sure those guys understand we’re team players and we’re in it for the long haul,” he said.
And next time, he hopes that he’s not the one on the wrong side of that close finish.
“[Hamlin] got me at the end there and it hurts a little, but it’s the start of something great,” he said. “I think I'm going to get a lot more opportunities to win races this year."