No. 2: Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead
Truex win at Homestead comes in second best
This is the fourth of a five-part series featuring the five best Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races staged in 2017. This is race No. 2 on the list of NASCAR’s best events.
In the Ford EcoBoost 400 there were 39 drivers racing for the win, but only four competing for the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
The Championship Round of the Cup Series playoffs was staged at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
NASCAR’s version of the final four included Martin Truex
Jr., Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski.
Truex, who drives the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota, was the only driver in the group who did not have a Cup Series championship ring.
Since 2014, when the 16-driver playoff system was introduced, the Cup Series champion has won the season finale.
Truex kept that streak alive, thanks in part to the race running caution-free for the last 51 laps — all led by Truex, who is a master at maintaining track position.
The funny thing about all this is that Kyle Larson had the fastest car by far in the first half of the 267-lap race. He led four times for 145 laps, but as darkness fell over the 1.5-mile oval, the race played into Truex’s hands.
“We just never gave up all day long,” Truex said. “We didn’t have the best car. I don’t know how we won that thing. Never give up. Dig deep. I told my guys we were going to dig deeper than we ever have.
“With 20 to go, I thought I was done — they were all better than me on the long run all day long. I just found a way. I found a lane that I could use and I found a lane that was blocking enough of their air that they couldn’t use it and just made it happen.”
Truex, 37, got the win by beating his Toyota nemesis Kyle Busch by .681 seconds to the checkered flag. Busch won the Cup crown in 2015.
As for the other championship contenders, Harvick, who was champion in 2014, finished fourth and Keselowski, who nabbed his title in 2012, was seventh.
Truex was a late bloomer in this sport.
He didn’t reach the championship-caliber driver status until the 2016 season. He has been racing in the Cup Series for a dozen years.
The key for Truex and Furniture Row Racing was partnering with Joe Gibbs Racing, which is Toyota’s lead race team.
Everything started to click at the start of the 2016 season. Truex scored four wins and about 10 near-misses, including losing the Daytona 500 by less than a foot to Denny Hamlin.
The team took that momentum into the 2017 season, and Truex won more races (eight) than he had the previous 11 years (seven), and of course, the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“It’s just overwhelming,” Truex said. “To think about all the rough days and bad days, the days that couldn’t run 20th, to be here, I never thought this day would come and to be here is so unbelievable.”
Truex did not take all the credit for the big win at Homestead or the championship. He thanked everyone who had helped him along the way.
“This isn’t about me,” Truex said. “This is about so many people. I’m just glad I didn’t let them all down. We’ve had the best team all year, and they deserve this.
“I’m just so thankful for all the help and these guys believing in me four year ago when we were running awful and just continuing to dig and find a way. They’re the best in the business.”