Martin Truex Jr. reveals his true feelings as he FLAWLESSLY ends decades-long frustration at New Hampshire to top $7.5 million rewarding Cup weekend
Martin Truex Jr. secured his maiden Cup race win at New Hampshire on Monday.
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Matin Truex Jr (Credits: @globeandmail/Twitter)
The 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. ended his winless run in home track Laudon on Monday. He won the race that was postponed due to heavy rain leading 254 of the 301 scheduled laps and surviving two restarts in the final 25 laps. It is the first-ever win he has scored at New Hampshire Motor Speedway since making his debut there with DEI in 2004.
He started the race at P2 behind his teammate Christopher Bell. It’s his first-ever win from 30 starts in his home track, and it’s a special feeling for him since he once witnessed his father, Martin Truex, doing the same in the ARCA series when he was a child. It’s the third win of the season for the No:19 team in 2023, and he has secured the championship lead once again. His first two wins came at Dover and Sonoma.
Truex Jr. admitted that the winless run at NHMS has been bugging him for a whole week. He missed out on the win at the track last year after a two-tire pit stop backfired, but on Monday was able to end the frustration that lasted nearly two decades. He added that waiting this long to win in front of the home crowd finally is a remarkable feeling. The No:19 driver will be rewarded the major share of the $7.5 million prize pool for the event.
“What we’ve been able to do here over the years is pretty remarkable, and to not win was really getting frustrating. James [Small] and I talked about it many times. We thought about it all weekend, and talked about it with Christopher [Bell] before the race. He’s like, ‘man, you’ve led more laps here than I’ve even raced in Cup.’ Just really an awesome job by everybody,” a delighted Truex Jr. told the media after the triumph.
Defending Cup champion Joey Logano gave an impressive fight till the end of the race. It finished just 0.396 seconds behind him after missing out on the opportunity to overtake him in two final restarts. HMS’s Kyle Larson secured the P3, while Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski secured the remaining spots in the top 5. Every driver who secured a Top 5 on Monday was a former cup champion.
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Martin Truex Jr. lauds his team after impressive win
The No:19 team has been executing well the whole season, and the NHMS weekend was yet another perfect demonstration of how valuable the crew is to him on race day. He had a fast car, and with flowless pit-stop, the team helped him to tackle the challenges he faced while leading the race.
“What a race car we had today. Just proud of the whole team. Pit stops were flawless. Race car was unbelievable. We had some challenges throughout the race, and it was a handful at times, but we just kept our heads down, kept digging,” Truex Jr. said.
The win and dominant performance gave a huge boost to the driver’s championship hopes. By sweeping both stages of the race and the win, he secured the maximum points a driver could secure from the weekend, which will give him a huge advantage in the last 16. I he decided to retire at the end of the season, he has positioned himself to walk off with the championship right now.
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Justin P Joy
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