Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. were all praised for each other during the Championship 4 weekend at Phoenix earlier this month. Someone with limited knowledge about their history would think that they have always been great friends on and off the race track. But the others, who have been following the sport for some time now, would know how fresh the scene was.
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The two drivers have been at loggerheads with each other at multiple points over the last decade. Tensions peaked during a 2018 race at Martinsville when Logano pushed Truex Jr. out of the way on the final turn to reach victory lane. The former Furniture Row Racing driver seethed in anger at the time, “He won the battle, but he’s not going to win the damn war.”
The reason for his anger was his belief that Logano’s move was unethical and a “cheap shot”. Also, the fact that he was the reigning champion and might not be able to defend the crown could have had something to do with it.
But his threat ended up getting nowhere as Logano went on to win the 2018 Cup Series title. This sequence naturally left a bitter taste in the mouths of both drivers.
But this wasn’t close to where the friction between them began. During a 2016 race in Fontana, Logano nearly wrecked Truex Jr. by putting him in the wall. He later apologized for the mistake but the No. 78 team was not willing to accept it. Crew chief Cole Pearn famously remarked, “I guess @joeylogano can’t see through his squinty douchy eyes.”
Logano and Truex Jr. have nothing but respect for each other now
These and more such incidents are what led to the surprise of watching them say nice things about each other. Perhaps they were willing to settle scores considering Truex Jr.’s retirement from full-time racing. They were alongside each other during the press conference in Phoenix.
The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran said in response to a reporter asking him when he decided to forget the Martinsville incident, “At some point in time you got to just move on, right? Life goes on. Things happen. It is racing. I always had a tonne of respect for Joey off the race track. He’s a great guy.”
“It took a while to get over that on the race track. To forgive someone for running you over. At the end of the day, you have to. Life goes on.” He noted that Logano was always a class act off the track and their run-ins on the track were no reason to dislike him. The defending champion spoke on the same lines.
He said, “It’s been a blast. I hope you [to Truex Jr.] enjoy your time. We talked a lot on the airplane about what it’s going to be like and he seems pretty excited about it. So, I’m happy for him.”
He also spoke at length about how he had great respect for his counterpart due to the philanthropic work that he did. All’s well that ends well.
