photo credit: Ron Olds
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 11, 2018) – Avoiding a final lap accident in Sunday’s non-points Advance Auto Parts Clash race was costly for Furniture Row Racing driver Martin Truex Jr, who found himself in the grass and a 14th-place finish.
The conservative 75-lap race at Daytona International Speedway saw Truex run as high as second. But while running in 11th place when drivers (including Truex) started to drop out of line to make a move to the front, a multicar accident took place in front of Truex.
“I slowed down way early after seeing them wreck,” explained Truex. “They started to come down the track and I had to go into the grass. And when I did that the splitter dug in and just turned me around. So I just spun out lazy and bounced up on the racetrack. It didn’t hurt the car that bad, just a weird situation.”
Outside of the last lap incident, Truex said his No. 78 5-hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops Toyota had good moments, but did have trouble maintaining a position at the front.
“Once we get to the front, we can’t figure out how to keep the position,” said Truex. “We got to the front multiple times but couldn’t stay there. We need to work on this issue.”
Results of the 2018 Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona:
1) – Brad Keselowski – Ford
2) – Joey Logano – Ford
3) – Kurt Busch – Ford
4) – Ryan Blaney – Ford
5) – Austin Dillon – Chevrolet
6) – Denny Hamlin – Toyota
7) – Kyle Busch – Toyota
8) – Erik Jones -Toyota
9) – Kevin Harvick – Ford
10) – Kyle Larson -Chevrolet
11) – Ryan Newman – Chevrolet
12) – Jimmie Johnson – Chevrolet
13) – Chase Elliott – Chevrolet
14) – Martin Truex Jr. – Toyota
15) – Kasey Kahne – Chevrolet
16) – Ricky Stenhouse Jr, -Ford
17) – Jamie McMurray – Chevrolet