Martin Truex Jr.: What a difference a week makes

KANSAS CITY, KS - APRIL 21: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, races during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 400 at Kansas Speedway on April 21, 2013 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, KS - APRIL 21:  Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, races during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 400 at Kansas Speedway on April 21, 2013 in Kansas City, Kansas.  (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, KS – APRIL 21: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, races during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 400 at Kansas Speedway on April 21, 2013 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Martin Truex Jr. finished second Apr. 13 at Texas–and was disconsolate.

Truex ran fourth in Sunday’s STP 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway—and was elated.

It’s all a matter of perspective.

Truex dominated much of the Texas race, but a faulty shock on his car and excellent work on the part of Kyle Busch’s pit crew made Busch a winner.

At Kansas, Truex fought through adversity, including a tire violation on pit road that sent him to the rear of the field, and rallied for his second top five of the season.

“I’m very happy with fourth place,” Truex said. “I got a lot of questions this week about being second (at Texas) and how I seemed so disappointed and all that. Well, yeah, of course I was, under the circumstances.

“Today is a complete opposite. I’m very, very happy and excited about a fourth-place finish. It just depends on circumstances. It was a great day. We overcame a lot. The guys did an awesome job of bouncing back after that pit road problem we had. We had a great race car. We just needed a little bit.”

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.