No disappointment this time: Truex Pocono win relieved doubts
The whole weekend at Pocono was emotional in my book. It just seemed like the things that happened Saturday and Sunday touched my heart this weekend. It started on late Saturday afternoon watching horsepower of a different nature as American Pharaoh became only the 12th horse in history to capture the Triple Crown. It has been a joy to watch the progression of that horse and his team into the record books these last five weeks. Trainer Bob Baffert finally got his Triple Crown after four tries, while jockey Victor Espinoza finally got his Triple Crown after three attempts.
Then on Sunday my heart was touched again when a driver that is so popular in the garage area and has overcome so much finally made his way to Victory Lane. Over the last couple years I have become a huge Martin Truex Jr. fan. I told him the other day he's driving the best I've ever seen him and has out-performed my expectations of him. I think Sunday will go down in the history books as one of the most popular wins in the history of our sport.
It's the old cliche, but, my, "what a difference a year makes." A year ago at this time I just don't know if things could have been any worse for Martin both on and off the track. His girlfriend of seven years, Sherry Pollex, was battling cancer. Martin was in his first year of driving for the No. 78 team following the loss of his sponsor and ride at Michael Waltrip Racing resulting from the fiasco at Richmond in 2013.
The No. 78 team was 25th in the points at this time last year. Last year he only led one lap all season long. He also only had five top 10s in all of 2014. This year it's a completely different story. In only 14 races he's got a win, four top fives and, even more impressive, 13 top-10 finishes. Only points leader Kevin Harvick has been able to match Martin in top 10s this year so far. On top of all that, Martin has led over 400 laps so far this season.
I don't think enough can be said of the class and compassion of car owner Barney Visser. He went to Martin last year, put his arm around him and told Martin to go take care of Sherry. He made it clear that she came first and that race car came second. He made it clear to Martin that his job was not in jeopardy. I just think that speaks volumes about the heart of Barney.
The two other steps the team took at the end of the season have also paid huge dividends. First there was the crew-chief switch to Cole Pearn. Now I didn't know a lot about Cole, but after sitting down to spend some time with him, I quickly became a fan. Cole is a really neat guy and he's exactly what that Martin needed.
The second thing the No. 78 camp did was maximize their alliance with Richard Childress Racing. While they had the alliance last season, there were times when they were stepping off and doing their own things. It really wasn't until late in the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup when they went back and tried one of the Childress cars that they realized they had been way off. Now they are a text-book example of a single-car team utilizing every single facet of an alliance with a mega-team like RCR. So much so, week in and week out Martin is out-running all three RCR cars.
Now sure, 2015 has been an awesome year for the No. 78. They are bad fast everywhere we go, running up front, leading laps and contending for wins. The only downside is they haven't been able to close the deal. Well, that is until Sunday at Pocono. Go back four weeks. Martin leads the most laps but doesn't win the race at Kansas. Then Martin leads the most laps in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and doesn't win the race. If all that wasn't enough, they go to Dover two weeks ago and same song, different verse. Martin leads the most laps and still doesn't win.
I was really worried the team was going to get down on itself. Martin had to be doubting himself as a driver just as much as Cole had to be wondering if he could ever call a race the right way. I just didn't want them to lose sight of the fact they just were doing so well and had so much to be proud of. Thankfully, they didn't and they never gave up.
I think that's why it was such a popular win to everyone in that garage area. You saw drivers, owners and crew chiefs all coming over to Victory Circle Sunday to congratulate Martin, Cole and the team. It's just been amazing to see what they all have gone through and how they've dealt with adversity.
So Sunday it all came to a head with Martin finally getting the win. It had been 69 long races since he won last, and four years for his race team, but the drought is over for both. Honestly, now that the pressure is somewhat off them, I think you'll see more wins from the No. 78 before the season is over. Plus the way they are running, there's nothing to say this little single-car team couldn't upset the sport and win the championship, either.
So now Martin became the 10th driver to win this season and put himself into the 16-car Chase field. There are still six spots left as we head to Michigan this weekend. It would be cool to have six more drivers pull off wins in the remaining 12 races of our regular season, but I don't think that will happen. We might see three or four more drivers make it in on wins and then two or three drivers make the Chase field on points.
So now we are on our way to Michigan. It's a big, fast and wide two-mile track. Like Pocono, Michigan is a track where you want all the horsepower the motor room can give you. I'm starting to see a little life out of Greg Biffle and his Roush Fenway Ford, so Sunday will be a good measuring stick of where they are at. Greg has four wins at Michigan which is the most of all the active drivers. He also moved up another spot in the points and is only 25 points out of the Chase cutoff of 16th.
I'm also going to keep an eye on Jeff Gordon. He won from the pole at Michigan last August. He's 10th in the points right now but still searching for a win in his final season behind the wheel. Yes, he and crew chief Alan Gustafson had a dust-up on the team radio Sunday but hey, that's all in the heat of battle. That stuff happens all the time. Getting a win and making the Chase is the focus for those two, so that's a storyline I am going to keep my eye on.
Our pre-race show begins at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and then the race is at 1, also on FOX Sports 1, so I hope you'll join us this Sunday!
