by After a race where he did everything right, Martin Truex was not about to get the post-race interview wrong.
“I got them all in this time, last time I screwed up,” Truex said with a smile after successfully ripping off all of his sponsors.
Last season Truex and his team had 99 problems, but a list (of sponsors) was not one. Since then, Truex has moved from thinking about the ending to competing for wins and maybe even more. Sunday was his second win of 2023 after going winless a season ago, and it put him ahead of William Byron for the points lead heading into the last free week of the year.
“This is why you go through years like last year and you just keep fighting, you never give up,” said Truex. “We haven’t changed anything about our team except parts and pieces and it’s just a lot of hard work from a lot of people.”
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It’s hard to imagine Truex thinking much about the rocking chair now, not while in the catbird seat, and with each win he marches further up the mountain of NASCAR greats.
Sunday’s win gives him 33 for his career, breaking the tie with Joey Logano and Dale Jarrett to take him to 26.e all-time, a perch he shares with Fireball Roberts. Seven more would bring him to a tie of 20e with Mark Martin and while that probably won’t happen this year, should he return for 2024, who’s to say?
Looking even further ahead, a second title this year would make him just 18e driver to win more than one. And with his 43ed birthday looming this month, he would be the fourth oldest to win one, behind Bobby Allison (1983) and Lee Petty (1959), who were both 45, and Dale Earnhardt, who was 43 and a few more months in 1994.
But history can wait and probably retire too. At this point, the smile, swagger, and speed are back in the 19 camp.
“(The team is) doing everything right at the moment and it’s a lot of fun to drive these cars,” beamed Truex.
Let’s go through the gears.
First Gear: Where Did the NASCAR Garage 56 Entry Finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans?
Technically 39e of the 62, but it was never really about that anyway.
By creating 285 circuits around the 13.476-mile circuit in France, the team seemed to be doing exactly what it set out to do: bring NASCAR to an international audience.
“We are thrilled,” said NASCAR CEO Jim France via release. “I’m so proud of everyone. We came here to make a good impression on the fans here and I’m so proud that we went all the way. This is a big challenge and it’s satisfying to run the distance here. “
Second Gear: Chase Elliott was solid, one week that was good enough
So it wasn’t the win Chase Elliott needed to punch a ticket into the playoff field.
But maybe fifth place was a step in that direction.
At the very least, his run was uneventful on Sunday. Shoot, downright skillfully. And for a driver who is usually rather reserved, after a highly publicized one-race suspension, his run was probably the best alternative to Victory Lane.
“Nice to get a top five no doubt,” said Elliott. “I’m looking forward to building on that and hopefully fighting for a win soon. Closer today for sure.”
Third gear: Truex Jr. spearheaded a massive turnaround on the road for Toyota
What a difference a year can make, huh?
Last year, no Toyota driver finished higher than 18e at Sonoma. This year, four of them – including Truex, of course – finished in 18th placee or better with a fifth, Denny Hamlin, who won Stage 1 before crashing to finish last.
“We had to do some work with NASCAR to redesign some things, everybody did, and (Toyota) did a good job there,” said Truex. “To be so bad here last year and to come back and do it with the same car is actually unbelievable.”
Fourth gear: where is Frankie Muniz in the points classification?!
There are no Cup, Xfinity or Craftsman Truck Series races this week, but the ARCA Menards Series continues with an event at Berlin Raceway in Michigan. The green flag is scheduled for Saturday at 8:20 p.m.
A quick check-in of the points standings shows Jesse Love coming in first and then…could it be? Yep, that’s Frankie Muniz right behind him in second, just 13 points back.
The former sitcom star was solid in his first season of full-time competition, racking up four top-10 finishes in five races. He is also the only driver to complete all 519 laps.
This article originally appeared in The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Martin Truex Jr. has fun and Frankie Muniz is where in points?!
