Martin Truex Jr. earns respect of teammates in Daytona 500 defeat

The main access point to the inside portion of Daytona International Speedway is through a Turn 1 tunnel, which is lined with snapshots commemorating great moments in the track’s history.

Among these photos is Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin racing underneath the checkered flag in the 2007 Daytona 500 in what was then the closest finish in the history of the Great America Race. And every time Martin Truex Jr. goes to the Central Florida track he sees that mural of Harvick edging Martin and feels for the driver who never won a Daytona 500 in 29 starts.

Unfortunately for Truex he likely will soon be seeing a depiction of himself upon arriving at Daytona, as he lost by 0.010 seconds to Denny Hamlin in Sunday’s Daytona 500 -- a finish that usurps the 2007 edition as the smallest margin of victory.

“Going to have to watch that on the highlight reel for the rest of my career -- I suppose, the rest of my life,” Truex said. “I remember when it happened to Martin, poor guy, been so close here so many times. They still show the highlight. The picture of that race is in the tunnel when you come in Turn 1.

“I have a feeling I’m going to have to see that same thing for a long time.”

Matt Kenseth, Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, had been leading entering Turn 3, but when he saw Hamlin charging he pulled up and attempted to throw a block. Coming off Turn 4, Truex thought he would win, only for Hamlin’s momentum to carry him ahead of Truex by the slimmest of margins.

Truex admitted afterward that when he sees replays of the finish, which will be inevitable because of how events played out, the defeat will linger. But he also acknowledged he couldn’t have done anything differently; Hamlin simply had a run and there was no way for Truex to position himself so that Hamlin couldn’t pull alongside.

“I felt like I had enough momentum to keep him behind me,” Truex said. “I did all the way up until that last couple feet. He just shot out that last couple inches on me right before the line.”

Complicating matters is Truex and Hamlin are virtual teammates, with JGR and FRR having entered into a technical alliance over the offseason. Spurred by Toyota wanting to strengthen its numbers, FRR was recruited by Toyota to switch from Chevrolet, which entailed JGR supplying FRR with cars, parts and critical data.

With Daytona the first race of the union between JGR and FRR, Truex wanted to assure his new quasi-teammates he was onboard and appreciative of the support his single-car outfit was getting from Joe Gibbs’ four-car powerhouse that won a series-best 14 times last season.

“When we started talking to Furniture Row, I sensed there was a level of trust in each other and a shared value structure that could allow this collaboration to actually succeed,” Racing Development president David Wilson said. “On paper it all looked good, but it’s up to the men and women in both of those shops to execute that collaboration.”

That trust manifested itself on Sunday. Truex repeatedly helped JGR drivers Hamlin, Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch, either by laying back on a restart to allow one of them to move into the preferred groove or pushing them when in need of a drafting partner.

“It was great for me to show those guys that, ‘Hey, they can trust me to be part of their team,’” Truex said. “We’re going to do everything we can to make them better. Honestly, it was just important to kick that relationship off right and show them what we’re capable of.”

Truex’s efforts didn’t go unnoticed. Hamlin, Gibbs and Wilson all lauded Truex for putting manufacturer’s interests ahead of his own.

“I’ll praise Martin as much as my teammates,” Hamlin said. “He just did such a great job of working with all of us on the restarts. He did a great job of being a good Toyota teammate.

“He’s a satellite team, but we definitely welcome him as a partner of Joe Gibbs Racing. They are our new partners. Martin’s a great talent to have as essentially a new teammate.”

Although he would have preferred being the first driver to deliver Toyota its first Daytona 500 win instead of a footnote in an incredible finish, Truex chose to look at the positives rather than second-guess his decision-making.

“It’s hard to make those decisions,” Truex said. “I felt like I had the momentum, and I did till those last couple feet. Live and learn. I think if I get in that position again, I’ll do it a little bit differently.”