By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Wtiter
The plan was set for Martin Truex Jr. in the closing stages of Monday’s FireKeepers Casino 400: Draft with Kurt Busch, catch Joey Logano, pass him and win.
With the laps winding down at Michigan International Speedway, Truex was making ground on race leader Logano, as Busch pushed the No. 19 Toyota into a near race for the lead.
However, the progress was halted when a caution flew with four laps to go, setting up an overtime restart. Here, Truex got passed by Busch for the second spot and stayed in defense mode to score a third-place result.
“We were working together well all day,” Truex said of himself and Busch. “We raced a lot together back and forth. A lot of times, he was in front of me. His car was really strong. We were trying to work together but, we just couldn
Leading 163 of 203 laps, Logano was indeed untouchable. For Truex, it was not only tough to pass the No. 22, but to pass anyone throughout the day.
“Early in the race, I had a really strong car,” he said. “Every time I would make a move on the bottom, you’d beat someone through the corner and you’d get penalized for it. I think it’s kind of silly but it’s what it is.”
Scoring his seventh top five at Michigan in 27 starts, Truex had a new challenge on his hands with the 2019 aero package. It changed the mindset that was nessesary to finish up front.
“We had to be patient all day to keep ourselves in the right spot,” he said. “It worked out good in the end.”