Pocono win not just another race for emotional Truex, girlfriend
More often than not, the greatest racing stories aren't about great races; they're about great human triumphs -- people who have overcome challenges, difficulties and obstacles to reach a goal that matters greatly to them.
When Dale Earnhardt ended 20 years of frustration by winning his first and only Daytona 500 in 1998, no one cared that he won it under caution instead of a daring last-lap pass. What we all remember -- and what some of his fans still get choked up about -- is watching the black No. 3 drive slowly down pit lane as virtually every crewmember from every team lined the road to high five him. It was an unprecedented display of respect for one the sport's legends.
At its best, NASCAR has delivered a lot of those emotionally rewarding moments.
The Wood Brothers scoring one of the greatest upsets in all of sports history by winning the 2011 Daytona 500 with a kid named Trevor Bayne, who had just turned 20 the day before, was one of those moments.
So was watching Tony Stewart win his first Brickyard 400 in 2005, and seeing Paul Menard end 30 years of family futility at Indy by winning the 2011 edition of the Brickyard. AJ Allmendinger's victory at Watkins Glen last year was also that kind of moment.
And so was Martin Truex Jr. ending a 69-race winless streak at Pocono Raceway Sunday afternoon, when he dominated the Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and held off Kevin Harvick to win.
You could see it in Truex's face as he hid behind dark sunglasses in Victory Lane. You could tell by all the rival competitors who came to greet the driver and his team. And when Truex's longtime girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, tweeted, "Chemo Monday victory lane Sunday" in a photo of the winning couple, the emotions were palpable.
It was the most poignant tweet since Steve Byrnes posted, "I went the distance," after the Bristol race, the night before he died. Pollex, like Byrnes was, is fighting cancer. And earlier this week, Truex lost his paternal grandmother. Needless to say, emotions were high.
You could argue that Truex's victory was just another race, and on some level it was. There are 36 races every season, after all. But this was bigger than cars going around a track lap after lap after lap. This was a special moment, and afterward the team knew it.
Cole Pearn, the talented young crew chief who won the first race of his career, admitted he got emotional on the last lap.
"I was honestly pretty calm most of the way until we kind of came off Turn 3, and I started cheering and I started getting a little choked up at that point," said Pearn. "I was doing pretty good. I was proud of myself to that point."
For his part, Truex was gracious in victory and glad to receive the congratulations of so many other racers.
"It means a lot, it really does, because there's going to come a time when racing and where you finish in races doesn't matter," said Truex of the reactions to his victory. "What's going to matter is kind of the legacy you leave and how people look at the person that you are. So that means a ton to me to have that respect, and, honestly, it's kind of humbling.
"It's really cool, especially after the last -- the way the last year and a half or so has gone for me, up until this year, I think that people kind of got a little bit of an insight into what I'm made of and what kind of person I am, which is cool. Sucks I had to show it sometimes, but you know, just definitely a humbling feeling to have the respect of those guys, because there's a lot of great people in this garage area."
In the three races before Pocono, Truex led the most laps each time, but finished ninth at Kansas, fifth at Charlotte and sixth at Dover. Sunday at Pocono, he finally sealed the deal.
"I wanted to win for this team because I knew how good they were, how much they deserved it, the job they've been doing, and I've just honestly been so proud of their outlook on the way this year has gone," Truex said. "It would be easy the last three weeks to get down and to hang your head and to make excuses and, honestly, just be disappointed, but they weren't. They were excited. They knew we were going to get this win, and they knew we were going to get it soon, and they worked hard. They didn't lose focus of how we got to where we're at, and, honestly, that's what pushed us over the edge and was able to make the difference today."
Yes, they did. Mission accomplished.
