He almost pulled it off. But once again fate intervened, and Martin Truex Jr. remains winless.
Truex has not won a race since last fall at Richmond. Late in the going Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Truex looked to be the only car who could compete with a dominate Kyle Larson. After finishing third in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2 the Joe Gibbs Racing driver took the lead with 47 laps to go.
On the race’s fifth and final caution, it all came apart on pit road.
Truex led the field in for stops but seemed to nearly miss his pit stall. He slowed and was tapped from behind by Larson and spun. His Toyota ended up backwards in the stall and when the dust settled, he rejoined the field 19th. Truex shared the blame for the spin on both him and Larson.
“It was definitely a little bit of both of that,” he said. “It was really hard to see through these windshields right now with the sun like that and all the stuff covering it. I did see my box late for sure. So I slowed down before I turned out of the way of the 5 (Kyle Larson) there. Obviously, partly on me. I didn’t expect to get turned around. Glad nobody got hurt there.”
Larson went on to win the race and said he didn’t think he was at fault.
“I was just going behind him,” Larson said. “He had a hard left and was hard on the brakes at the same time, and I ran right in the back of him. My team said he was late turning into his stall, but I don’t know. If it was my fault, I’m sorry. I don’t think it was.
“But it’s hard to see down this pit road. I don’t know if fans and people realize; when you’ve got debris all over your windshield, the sun is shining straight in your face, it’s hard to see your stall. So hate that that happened. He was definitely the one I was going to have to beat. He was really good that last long run, too.”
Truex staged a furious rally in the closing laps but could only manage to make it to sixth. An admirable drive but he leaves Miami winless in 42 races.
“Overall, just disappointing,” Truex said. “To have a good day going like that and have a shot at winning and couldn’t close the deal. Hate it for my team. It’s been one of those years. Thanks to Bass Bro, Tracker, Cabela’s, Toyota, everybody that supports us and all our fans. We’re going to keep digging and win a bunch of races once we get through this rough patch.”
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.
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