Truex Jr. wins first NASCAR championship
HOMESTEAD, FLA. — He was not the best car on Sunday, nor the fastest, but none of that mattered — at last, Martin Truex Jr. is a NASCAR Cup Series champion.
Truex’s struggles have been longdocumented, everything from losing his ride in the prime of his career to his girlfriend’s cancer diagnosis three years ago, and yet still, he fought back in 2017. All season long Truex has been dominant, as his seven wins coming into Sunday will attest, but this eighth win at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the season finale will be the one that defines his season.
The race started OK for Truex, but he lingered just outside of the top spot until the third and final stage. At that point, he jumped to the lead and, thanks to an advantageous caution, was able to keep it. The last little bit of the race was spent trying to fend off Kyle Busch, who had a faster car for large swathes of the race but eventually ran out of time.
And then there was Truex, as has been the case so many times this season, crossing the finish line before any other driver. The crowd erupted, as did Truex’s entire No. 78 team, and of course, Truex himself. After everything, he deserved a championship. Three who mattered Truex Jr. has been the fastest car all season, and it finally paid off for him at Homestead. Kyle Busch was arguably faster than Truex on Sunday, but when a late caution allowed all drivers to pit, Busch was left with too much ground to make up and finished second. Kurt Busch’s spin on the inside corner with less than 50 laps to go in the race was about the worst thing that could have happened to his brother who needed a long run without cautions to make up lost ground.