Martin Truex Jr. seemed poised for another Monday matinee in victory lane. But the wrong strategy kept the No. 19 team from earning its fourth win of 2023 at Michigan International Speedway.
Truex settled for second in Monday’s rain-postponed FireKeepers Casino 400, falling 0.152s short of winner Chris Buescher at race’s end after chasing him for the majority of the final stint.
“I think we just needed maybe a little bit longer run to wear the tires some more,” Truex said. “I felt like we were a little better, but it’s just really hard to pass the leader on equal tires.”
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Truex had the dominant car rolling into Monday, having claimed the opening stage before rain halted the race on lap 75. He rolled off just as quick when the field roared back to life shortly after 12:30 p.m. ET Monday afternoon.
His Toyota was so fast that Truex pitted as others stayed out under a lap 104 caution and rose from outside of the top-10 to take Stage 2, beating Daniel Suarez in a drag race to the line. No one else that pitted finished higher than ninth in the stage.
Daniel did everything he could to hold off the No. 19 but @MartinTruex_Jr was just too fast! pic.twitter.com/diaxxtfjX8
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 7, 2023
Confident in the car’s speed, the team sacrificed its track position and pitted again after Stage 2, surrendering the lead to RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher in hopes of taking less fuel on its final pit spot.
That would prove to be the deciding factor in the race. Truex spent the entirety of Stage 3 working to chase frontrunners Buescher and Tyler Reddick down. Reddick’s crew left him with a loose right-rear wheel on his last stop, taking him out of contention. But while Truex was able to close up to Buescher for the final 30 laps, he struggled to find a way past him.
Truex managed to dive under Buescher in Turn 1 with 13 to go. But he was unable to clear the Texan in Turns 3 and 4, forcing him to take Turn 1 to Buescher’s inside on the ensuing lap.
Try as he might, Truex couldn’t make the move stick. He washed up the track and surrendered the lead.
Heart beating out of our chest watching this 😅@RFKracing | @JoeGibbsRacing pic.twitter.com/LzHnQuxaLD
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 7, 2023
The New Jersey native was able to close in on Buescher again over the final 10 laps, but ran out of time to make a move as the checkered flag flew.
“Strategy kind of shook us up a little bit,” Truex said. “We were luckily able to get our track position back all day just because of our speed.
“Man, that one more (spot ahead) stinks. It’s been tough to get a win here. We’ve been really good in the past, but we just can’t get it done. I don’t know, maybe next year.”
Painful as the loss was, Monday’s result didn’t come without positives. Truex led six times for 47 laps, earned two playoff points for stage wins and scored a race-high 55 points to add to his regular season points lead.
Truex now has a 57-point edge on teammate Denny Hamlin for the regular season championship with three races left before the playoffs. The 2017 Cup champ is among the sport’s most consistent contenders and has removed any lingering questions of his future, allowing his team to focus forward heading into the postseason.
“Every week we feel like we have a shot to win,” Truex said. “That’s all I can ask for. It’s exciting coming to the track every weekend, knowing what these guys are going to bring me. Hopefully we can keep it up.”
“Would’ve been nice to get a win today. But all in all, it was a good day.”