Alan Truex: With Martin threatening Logano, NASCAR gets a big finish
Martin Truex Jr. needed to negotiate only one more turn to win the First Data 500 at Martinsville, Va. For six laps he had dueled Joey Logano, much of the time side by side and never scraping paint. On this last lap he shook off Logano on the second turn, and being that he’s the reigning NASCAR champion, Truex expected to stay in front.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., retired NASCAR star who analyzed the race for NBC, said, “I think Truex expected Logano to race him a little cleaner because of how Truex raced Logano in the final laps.”
Logano sees racing protocol a bit differently. He raced Truex like a gentleman until the last lap. Then the unwritten rules changed. Sort of like the last minute of an NBA playoff game, when just about anything goes.
So on Turn 4, Logano took aim at Truex’s bumper and tapped it, just hard enough to send his foe veering wide. Logano swept by him, sides colliding. From there the 28-year-old Logano had an easy run to the finish. Denny Hamlin finished a clean second, and Truex fishtailed his way to third.
“Classic bump-N-run,” Logano chortled.
“A cheap shot,” Truex called it. “What goes around comes around.”
So literally true in the world of stock cars.
So it looks like NASCAR has something it needs: a racing feud heading into its Final Four at Homestead, Fla., on Nov. 19.
Familiar ground for Logano, who’s had celebrated spats with Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Logano is one of the sport’s most aggressive – and daring – drivers. He does not err on the side of caution, and that philosophy clashes with that of the more sportsmanlike drivers. Logano drives like the racetrack is a casino. He’s not afraid to gamble his life. Or yours.
But perhaps that’s the sort of recklessness it will take to win the championship this year. For most of the NASCAR season has belonged to the Big Three of Truex, Harvick and Busch. But timely surges by Logano and Chase Elliott have assured a very competitive Final Four.
I have a personal bias for Martin, given that he and I have a common ancestor, Philippe de Trieux, who sailed from Amsterdam to New Amsterdam in the early 17th century. Until cousin Martin became nationally known, few people could pronounce my name. He’s saved me millions of seconds of embarrassment for which I will always appreciate.
And I like what he stands for: Collisions should not be part of racing strategy. The sport would still be frightening enough without trying to create collisions and skids.
Much to my chagrin, Earnhardt argued Logano’s side, that “it’s the last lap and it’s for a trip to the championship. I’ve told Martin forever that he’s too nice, but I’d be upset too. Joey is hoping Martin never gets a chance to pay him back at Homestead.”
Nice guys don’t necessarily finish last in car racing, but they often finish second or third. Call it killer instinct, or living on the edge, but the winners know how to bend the rules to their favor.
No sport is more susceptible to spin than car racing, and Logano made it sound like both drivers were trying to do the same thing; it’s just that he did it better.
“We didn’t wreck each other, we bumped into each other a lot, and that is what this sport is built on.”
Logano is exaggerating the amount of contact. Hamlin, who was right behind the dueling leaders, saw how it was: “I knew they were going to get into each other. They were leaning on each other pretty good for a couple of laps. Whoever was on the outside tried to pinch the other guy off.”
Truex did try to control the track, but by gradually moving his car toward Logano’s without hitting it. He sees a line that Logano does not.
Truex had the slightly superior vehicle, but Logano was able to hang close, thanks in part to Kyle Busch, the fourth-place finisher, offering subtle interference.
“We were racing Truex,” Busch said. “I held Truex up a little bit more than maybe I should have.”
Truex surged ahead of Logano on the second turn of the final lap. “I never knocked him out of the way,” Truex pointed out. “We were going to race hard for it. I cleared him fair and square.”
Hamlin said, “It would have been a cool battle if they had stayed side by side. I think Joey thought he wasn’t going to win that way.”
So he tried the only way he thought would bring him victory.
“I had the feeling going to the backstretch that that was going to happen,” Truex said, “and there was nothing I could do about it.”
In the sore-losing manner that’s something of a family trait, Martin Truex scoffed: “He won the battle but he ain’t winning the damn war. I promise you, I won’t forget what he did.”
