Martin Truex Jr.'s championship season evaporates with engine trouble

TALLADEGA, Ala.—Martin Truex Jr. began his year with a bitter loss in the Daytona 500, coming up just six inches short of a trip to victory lane. He’ll end this year with an even more painful thud, a championship-caliber season falling victim to a blown engine at Talladega.

This was supposed to be Truex’s year, a season in which everything came together for the Jersey driver and Denver race team. Truex won four races, including the Coca-Cola 600, the Southern 500, and two of the first three races in the first round of the Chase. But in the Chase, you’re only as good as the current three-race segment, and Truex’s earlier victories meant nothing in the round of 12. Truex entered the race 13 points ahead of the cutoff line, not nearly enough to feel comfortable.

Early on in the race, Truex, the pole winner, challenged Brad Keselowski for the race lead, even notching a couple laps led. But by lap 41, Truex’s engine let go, and he had no choice but to take his car straight to the garage.

“I originally thought it was maybe a tire issue, but when I slowed down and came to pit road, I knew it was an engine issue,” he said. “I knew we’d need a miracle.”

When asked what he was thinking when he realized it was the engine and not a tire issue, he smiled. “I can’t say those words here,” he said. “Just, damn. It hurts to go out like that. We could have raced all day and gotten in a big wreck and not advanced, you know? But it sure would have been nice to find out, to play the whole game, so to speak. To barely make it to the first pit stop hurts.”

The Chase format eliminates the four lowest-ranked cars after Talladega from championship contention, and Truex’s struggles mean that he’ll have no chance to advance. As other cars kept piling up the laps that would bury his chances, Truex turned philosophical.

“It’s part of life, part of racing,” Truex said. “You enjoy the good days, and try to get past the bad ones, whether it’s problems with your race car or somebody in your family that’s struggling.”

All around him, the 78 team dismantled Truex’s Toyota, a season that had begun with so much hope now over too soon.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.