Martin Truex Jr. finds redemption a year later in Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Martin Truex Jr. had done everything but win at Kansas Speedway. Until Saturday night.
Truex, the hard-luck kid at Kansas, led a race-high 104 laps and ended five years of Midwest misery by winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling 400 for his second win of the season.
The race was marred by a fiery crash in which Aric Amirola was airlifted to the University of Kansas Medical Center after a collision with Joey Logano and Danica Patrick. The crash, which red-flagged the race, appeared to be caused when something on Logano's No. 22 Ford broke, sending him hard into Patrick's No. 10 Ford in Turn 1 shortly after a restart on Lap 200. Almirola, who was trailing, came up on the wreck and hit both cars hard, lifting the No. 43 Ford's back wheels.
“That’s the worst,” said Truex. “You never want to see that. Aric is a friend of mine. He volunteered to be in our fashion show this week, our big foundation fund-raiser. He’s such a nice guy. I was scared when I saw that and was worried for him.
“I hope he’s doing well, and it was just safety precautions that they had to take care. I was definitely thinking about him.”
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Almirola, who drives for Richard Petty Motorsports, was listed in stable condition and was to remain hospitalized overnight for observation, according to a team release. The team did not indicate whether Almirola had suffered any injuries.
Truex came to this race having led 518 laps in his career at Kansas. He led 173 of the 267 laps in the 2012 spring race only to lose down the stretch to Denny Hamlin by 0.70 of a second. In the 2012 fall race, Truex finished second to Matt Kenseth by 0.49 of a second.
And last year, he led 172 laps in the May race only to make an unexpected pit stop due to an overheating lug nut with 51 laps to go and settled for 14th.
That’s what made this one so sweet.
“As a racer, you don’t forget,” said Truex, in his fourth year driving the No. 78 for Furniture Row Racing. “You don’t forget those ones that got away or the ones you screwed up, or gave one away or anything like that. They always stick with you.
“Definitely last year was probably the biggest heart-breaker to have the craziest thing happen you can ever imagine, an eight-second lead, gone. It’s definitely sweet redemption tonight. It’s been a long time coming, and we definitely earned it.”
Truex, in his Toyota, nearly found more disappointment when teammate and rookie Erik Jones spun out with seven laps to go, bringing Truex back to the pack for a re-start.
“I thought, ‘Damn, Erik, come on, now, your teammate is leading the race, don’t be causing cautions,’’’ Truex said. “I was gone … Lucky for Erik I didn’t screw up the last couple of restarts."
Indeed, Truex had too much speed and held off second-place Brad Keselowski’s Ford by 1.10 seconds.
“Tonight we did everything right,” said Truex, who is second in the points standings, 44 behind Kyle Larson, who was sixth Saturday. “When the pressure was on, and the money was on the line, we made the right moves, and everything worked out."
PHOTOS: ARIC ALMIROLA'S CRASH AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY
