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.”
The race winner was Brad Keselowski. Rounding out the top-five in order were: Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney and Austin Dillon.
Next on the Daytona Speedweeks schedule is Thursday night’s Can-Am Duel qualifying races for the Daytona 500. The Duels will determine starting positions 3-40 for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Truex will compete in the second Duel race, starting at approximately 8:45 p.m. ET. The Can-Am Duels will be televised on Fox Sports 1 with the first race starting at 7 p.m. ET.
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