By Mark Gregory
@Hear_The_Beard
Tires were both a plus and a minus for Martin Truex Jr. Sunday en route to winning the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, the first race in The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
The win was his first victory in 11 Sprint Cup starts in Chicago and his third win of the season. Truex had previously won only three times in his career.
“Without a doubt it’s the best team I’ve ever had, it’s the best position I’ve ever been in. I really feel like we have what it takes to win this championship,” Truex said. “I felt like we had the same thing last year, but we didn’t have the racecars. We didn’t have the speed we have now. That’s really taken us to another level. There’s been years, a few years, where I should have won multiple races, but I’ve never been in a position where I feel like we can go anywhere and win. Right now I feel like any racetrack, any weekend, anywhere in the country we can win. It’s just so much fun to go to the racetrack and have that feeling, have that much confidence in your team and what you’re doing. Having that much confidence in yourself as a driver is the ultimate goal.
“So it feels so good. I’m so proud of everyone and thankful. We have two weeks now to just try to keep the momentum going. We have no pressure on us. Hopefully we’ll be able to get a couple more trophies and then get ready for round two.”
With the win, Truex secured his position in the second round of The Chase and now leads the point standings by one over Brad Keselowski.
“We did what we came here to do. That always feels good when you accomplish your goals,” Truex said. “We had a good weekend here with our Furniture Row Toyota. [We] Worked really hard on our car throughout practice and on race runs. [We] Tried some new stuff this weekend and really felt like throughout the weekend we were getting the car feeling really good for race trim.
“It was a good weekend for us. Really, today was a great day for us on the racetrack. We had to overcome some adversity obviously. That was tough. But [I am] really proud of our team for everybody sticking together, everybody keeping their heads down and never quitting till it was over. Today was obviously a big win for us. I am just excited for everybody. I mean, this is what we came here to do. It was cool to be able to put it out there and make it happen.”
Truex was trailing Chase Elliott by more than a second with five laps to go when Michael McDowell’s shredded right front tire forced the caution. The leaders pitted, leaving Truex fourth and Elliott fifth on the race’s final restart after Ryan Blaney, Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards stayed out.
Truex made a three-wide pass to the outside going into turn one as the green came out and took the lead.
“Getting that fourth position on the outside I think was the key to winning,” Truex said. “Making the move to the outside was just what I was presented with. That was the only move I could make. Fortunately we were able to make it work.
“I want to say I feel for Chase. I know what he’s going through. He did a great job. I wasn’t going to catch him. I was catching him, but I was not catching him enough to pass him in five more laps. He did a good job and they were really fast today. We had to come from behind.”
Earlier in the race, Truex had spent time a lap down. He got his lap back on a free pass and made his way through the field and was in position for the win when opportunity struck.
“The mindset was, All right, this isn’t good, this is bad,” he said. “I really wish this didn’t happen, but it did. How are we going to overcome it? That’s all you can do at that point in time is say, Okay, where are we at? Where is the leader? What do I need to do? Cole kept me updated on who the leader was, who was a lap down, where I had to get to. Just kept my pushing, just kept my head down, kept digging. Eventually got back on the lead lap. Then the challenge was, How are we going to get up through traffic? It wasn’t easy to pass out there. But our car was really good on the long runs. That’s where we were able to make time. It was trying to be patient on the short runs, on the restarts, try to keep my tires under me, and wait for those guys to start fading, then make my move. That’s what I did all day long and it worked out.”
Getting the win not only locks Truex into the second part of the Chase, it gives him a piece of mind for a few weeks.
“I think really all it means is that we’re guaranteed to make the second round, and the next two weeks we don’t have to worry about flat tires or somebody running into us and wrecking us, getting caught by a caution when you’re pitting, things like that. We don’t have to worry about the things that we can’t control,” he said. “That’s what gives you the most anxiety in these situations when you’re in the Chase and you have three-round eliminations. So we don’t have to deal with that for two weeks. All we have to focus on is going to the racetrack and trying to continue to do a great job and win some more races. So that’s our goal right now.”
Along with a spot in the second part of the Chase, the win also earned Truex a cartoon-based trophy featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – one that he had plans for right away.
“I think I’m going to put that trophy in my shop because we have like a little store set up in there at Martin Truex Jr. Motorsports. We have a lot of family and kids come by. It will be cool to set it up in the opening and get their picture taken with it,” he said. “That’s what I thought while I was standing out there and somebody asked me that. We’re going to do that for sure.”