Martin Truex Jr. says Homestead finish serves as motivation for next year
Martin Truex Jr. faced an uphill battle if he was to win the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship on Sunday, but the Furniture Row Racing driver and his team had already overcome so much this year.
The underdog going into the title fight at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the New Jersey native was never a threat for the race win and ran fourth of the four title contenders for much of the Ford EcoBoost 400. Truex struggled with the handling on the No. 78 Chevrolet throughout much of the race, finishing the night 12th on the leaderboard.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch was able to win Sunday night's race, earning his first Sprint Cup Series title, while 2014 champion Kevin Harvick finished the race in the runner-up spot, ending the season second in the standings. Jeff Gordon was sixth in the final start of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career, missing out on his fifth title and finishing third in the points.
Ending the day the lowest of the title contenders, Truex finished the year fourth in the championship point standings -- disappointing, perhaps, but nonetheless a career best.
"We were definitely up against a lot here. The odds were against us for sure," Truex said after the race. "We didn't come here saying we were going to be OK finishing fourth. We came here and really tried everything in our power, everything we knew how to do, to put together our best performance. It just wasn't in the cards for us."
Fighting the handling of the car from the drop of the green flag, Truex and his rookie crew chief Cole Pearn adjusted on the car throughout the entire event, often gambling with pit strategy to get to the front of the field.
"We really felt like without trying something quite different, we weren't going to get there because we had tried so many different things throughout practice, different packages, to try to get the feel or get some ... grip in the car," said Truex. "It just was never there for us. So we figured we had to take a big swing at it, and honestly I don't think it really was any worse than it was in practice. We just never could quite hit on it. No matter what we did, it wouldn't turn and you couldn't use the throttle at all, either."
Despite being disappointed on missing out on the opportunity to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title, Truex said he and his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing teammates were not going to hang their heads after Sunday's results.
"I think this is great motivation for us for next year," he said. "I think that with the things we have coming and going to Toyota and teaming up with JGR and all that stuff, I think the future is bright for this team, and we're keeping all our guys together, and hopefully this is our first season battling for a championship but not our last.
"I really feel strong that this is a special group of guys, and if we can keep that together for hopefully the rest of my career, I'd love to drive for them," he said. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens. You never know what the future holds, but excited already about next year."
There will be little rest for Truex and his Denver, Colorado-based team. After a short break, they will be back in Homestead on Dec. 13 for an off-season test session.
"Not a whole lot of rest, and looking forward to spending a week or so down here relaxing and having a few beers, catching a few fish, and really just let it all soak in what we've been able to accomplish. I'm really proud of everybody on our team," he said.
