Despite dominating the second half and 228 laps in total of Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400, what could have been Martin Truex Jr.’s first victory of the season and also the 35th of his entire Cup career, resulted in just a P4 finish. Thanks to his teammate Denny Hamlin, who did exactly what he needed to do to bag his 53rd victory. Needless to say, Truex wasn’t happy with the #11 driver, and his frustration boiled over moments after the race ended.
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Perhaps the veteran racer would have been able to win if it weren’t for the overtime with just a couple of laps to go. However, neither did Truex blame Wallace nor did he hold Larson responsible for bringing out the caution. Rather, his wrath seemed to be directed towards his JGR teammate, who he thought jumped the restart. “I wish he would have gave me a chance, but that’s the way it is,” he sighed.
“Unfortunately, it’s happened to us a few times at Richmond here,” he vented. “You know, lead the whole race and some dumba** move brings out a caution coming to the white flag and ruins our whole night. It was unfortunate, but an awesome job by my team.” What heightened his disappointment was that the #19 pit crew was incredibly fast on the pit road and yet, failed to translate that into a win. “It’s a tough one to swallow,” admitted the Toyota pilot.
Veteran NASCAR insider acquits Hamlin
It’s not uncommon for teammates to help each other on the racetrack. But at the end of the day, there’s going to be just one winner. And that one cherished trip down the victory lane is what forces teammates to try to fend off each other at the most decisive moments. However, that’s the beauty of NASCAR. That’s what makes this sport so thrilling.
What Hamlin did was needed to go for the win and even former racer Kenny Wallace doesn’t find anything wrong with that. In a recent post on social media, Wallace said, “Yes. @dennyhamlin did jump the start. But it was for the win and he got away with it. The blame for the loss goes to @MartinTruex_Jr crew coming off pit road in 2nd. That put, Denny in control of the restart.”
In utter disbelief, a fan said, “WTF Kenny?! You, a racer says Hamlin jumped the restart, and that’s okay?? I don’t understand or agree at all!!!” To this, Wallace replied, “Yes! Think about it this way. Why be mad at @dennyhamlin? You cannot race a full body race car for the win on a last lap restart. And NOT expect contact”
Who is right, and who is wrong? That’s debatable for sure. But considering the fact that Hamlin has already won three races this season (one of which was not a points paying race), it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to assume that this man might as well register his 60th win this year itself.
