Martin Truex Jr. Rejects the Denny Hamlin Way of NASCAR Racing: “I Wasn’t Gonna Do Anything to Wreck Him”

Monday’s race at Michigan was almost perfect for current points leader Martin Truex Jr. The JGR driver took the first two stages and only due to a difference in pit strategy, came home second to RFK’s Chris Buescher after battling for much of the final laps. Interestingly, there was a point when Truex could have executed a move on Buescher like the one Denny Hamlin pulled on Kyle Larson at Pocono, a move that Hamlin said was necessary to win.

But Truex held his own to finish in second, not risking anything that could have wrecked either or both of the drivers out of the race. After the race, the 2017 Cup champion did open up about not making such a move, standing firm on his belief in respecting his on-track relationship with other drivers.

Martin Truex Jr. had a choice to wreck Buescher and take the win at Michigan

A disappointed Truex expressed frustration at not being able to pass Buescher for the win, saying, “I got beside him and about lost it down into (Turn 1). I was just trying to do all I could to get by him without making contact. I easily could’ve got into him there.”

The JGR driver also brought up how his racing philosophy did not allow him to pull a Hamlin-like move on the RFK driver, stating, “I feel like we’ve had a good, respectful relationship on the race track, and I wasn’t gonna do anything to wreck him or take a chance at wrecking both of us. Second is better than that.” 

Martin Truex Jr. was disappointed with his second-place finish but doesn’t feel he could have done anything else to win unless he wanted to wreck Chris Buescher. pic.twitter.com/X0NmM5RUQ5

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 7, 2023

Truex reiterated the same to Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass, saying, “I don’t know what else I could have done differently aside from running into him which I easily could have done, but I’m not going to do that.” This feeling is along the same lines as what the JGR driver, who will return in 2024 after a lot of speculations, expressed after the incident at Pocono.

Truex Jr. does not want to make new enemies heading into the Playoffs

During the Richmond weekend, Truex was asked about his take on the over-aggressiveness on the field, and if he subscribed to the ‘win at all cost’ mentality of racing. The #19 driver gave a calculated response, saying, “You certainly don’t want to get into the playoffs with guys having grudges against you and want to settle scores. Because if they have a bad day, they’re going to try to take you with them. We’ve seen it in the past. I think you know big picture racing is always important to not have enemies I would think. I don’t want anyone to get me once the playoffs start that’s for sure…”

Gunning for a second Cup Series chip after a highly disappointing 2022, Truex concluded, “We have seen it year after year a lot of guys get in trouble for being aggressive and making moves, wrecking guys. I mean not saying I never wrecked anyone but I try to race clean as I possibly can.”

It will be fascinating to see if there is a change in Truex’s approach when playoffs approach and the stakes are higher. Will he continue to race in this manner or will he also pull off something similar to his JGR teammate?