For the 21st time, Martin Truex Jr. had the opportunity to win the famed Daytona 500, but the Tricon Garage drover’s challenge could not last for even half of the 200-lap race. Involved in a seven-car crash on Lap 72, the No. 56 driver could only earn a 38th-place DNF next to his name.
Having announced his retirement from full-time competition, the only driver apart from Kyle Busch to have 20 or more Daytona 500 starts had perhaps his last chance at glory. Or so we thought, with the 44-year-old dropping a bombshell update regarding his future.
No Goodbye Just Yet for Martin Truex Jr.?
Speaking to reporters following the Daytona 500, Truex Jr. hinted at the possibility of entering next year’s race. However, he added that there was still time before coming to a final decision.
“Probably, yeah,” he said. “We’ll see. It’s a long way from now, so I got a lot of stuff to do between now and trying to figure that out again.”
Fans of the Mayetta-born driver were ecstatic with the possibility, particularly given the way things ended for him on Sunday, Feb. 16.
It all began after a first-stage restart after Joey Logano had engine trouble and ended up stacking the outside lane on Turn 1. The drivers on his tail pushed into each other, sending them spinning. When it was all over, Martin Truex Jr. had damaged his car and had to retire from the race due to a broken oil cooler.
Looking back at the incident, Truex Jr. said it is always disappointing to not finish a race, irrespective of the situation. While he found the race to be fun while it lasted, the No. 56 driver agreed it was a “wrong place, wrong time” scenario for them.
Reflecting on what he saw from the driver’s seat, Truex Jr. explained there was not enough time for him to slow down and avoid the crash. With a hard stack right in front of him, all he could do was be part of the crash and lose his oil cooler. Such has been the “Daytona luck” for the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion.
