Lessons learned from NASCAR: Martin Truex Jr. back to the victory column after the Cautious Clash
LOS ANGELES – Martin Truex Jr.. emerge as survivor of the clasha challenging exhibit race with spins Sunday night as riders attempt to navigate the quarter-mile makeshift oval built inside the Los Angeles Memorial Arena.
Keywords: tried. The drivers never caught on when they hit each other, resulting in 16 race warnings, a 150 lap race where caution laps didn’t count.
“When you restart, you slip so badly that other people will turn the corner and they’re locking the brakes, they can’t turn,” says Truex. “So they just slide into each other.”
Three takeaways from Clash:
Truex recovers with victory
Truex, the 2017 Cup Winners’ Cup, won it in 2022 and missed out on the knockout stages of the Cup after the crazy final of the regular season at Daytona.
He is poised to start 2023 to show that he and his Joe Gibbs Racing team can still win.
Truex led the last 25 laps after passing Ryan Preece.
“Last year was a pretty difficult season for us without any wins, and to come out here and start this way, [I’m] really proud of all these guys,” Truex said. “Tonight was perseverance, not giving up, just fighting and we finally found ourselves.”
Martin Truex Jr. win Clash
Martin Truex Jr. won Clash at the Colosseum after being undefeated in 2022.
Wallace’s day ended bitterly
Bubba Wallace led 40 laps but after being overtaken by Ryan Preece in Round 83, he never found his way back to the front.
I’m entangled Austin Dillon in some tight races with seven laps left. After turning against the wall, Wallace cautiously gave Dillon a bump to show his displeasure.
“3 [Austin Dillon] Wallace said. “He just always ran into the back to my left. …I had him run right into the fence on the restart, so I gave him a shot and then we fell.
“So bad.”
Dillon: “Obviously Bubba knocked me out in the corner. I was going to hit him back. I didn’t mean to turn him around like that, but when it all came to an end, I think everyone knew what was going on. happens, and that’s what you see in places like this.”
Wallace and several other drivers said that despite the relatively low speed, the collisions with the car were significant.
“My back still hurts,” Wallace said. “Head still hurts.”
Clash at the Colosseum Highlights
Bubba Wallace was decisive from the start with a 39-round lead, but Martin Truex Jr. made it count in the first place as he led the last 25 laps to the win.
Logano feels bad for Busch
Joey Logano really feel bad for my rotation Kyle Busch and was really happy to see Busch rallying for second place.
“That was my mistake,” Logano said. “I don’t know why. It’s still a mystery to me. … I don’t have a handle on the back and slide down to number 8. [of Busch]. Thankfully, he was quick enough to get back there.
“I feel pretty bad. But I’m glad he was able to get back there.”
Busch will remember the contact.
Busch said: “He just drove past me. “So he has someone else coming in. I owe him some.”
‘Tonight is to persevere and not give up’
Martin Truex Jr. reflected after winning the Clash of 2023 at the Colosseum.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsport, including the past 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News- Journal. Follow him on Twitter @reedsand sign up FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass.
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