LONG POND — After winning the Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 on Sunday at Pocono Raceway, Martin Truex Jr. was asked how it felt to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup for the third time in his career.
Before the reporter could finish the question, Truex interrupted him.
“Should be the fourth, right?” Truex said. “As long as they don’t kick me out before now and then, I’ll be in it.”
Of course, Truex was referring to what happened to him in 2013.
It was at Richmond, the final race before the Chase began. Truex was battling for the final wild-card berth. Finishing seventh, it appeared that he got the spot on a tiebreaker over Ryan Newman.
However, two days later, NASCAR ruled Truex’s teammates at Michael Waltrip Racing — Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers — tried to manipulate the outcome of the race to get Truex into the Chase.
As a result, Truex was bumped from the Chase. Newman and Jeff Gordon were added.
Part of the fallout from the controversy saw NAPA Auto Parts withdraw its sponsorship from Truex’s car. Without a ride, he left MWR for the single-car, Denver-based No. 78 Furniture Row team for the 2014 season.
He posted just four top-10 finishes, led only one lap and finished a career-low 24th in the point standings.
That wasn’t the worst of it, though. During the season, his longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
Through it all, though, Truex endured.
Inspired by Pollex’s fight, Truex recorded 12 top-10 finishes in the first 13 races this season. He kept knocking at the door of Victory Lane. In each of the three previous races — Kansas, Charlotte and Dover — he led the most laps, but had nothing to show for it.
Finally, Sunday at Pocono, he broke through.
In his first 18 starts at the 2.5-mile triangular track, Truex led 11 laps. On Sunday, he led a race-high 97 — including 66 of the final 67 — to end a 69-race winless drought and likely punch his ticket into the Chase.
“I wanted to win for this team because I knew how good they were, how much they deserved it, the job they’re been doing,” Truex said. “I’ve just honestly been so proud of their outlook on the way this year has gone.”
Because of everything Truex has endured, many of the drivers were happy to see him win.
Runner-up Kevin Harvick said if he had to finish second to somebody, he was glad it was Truex.
“Obviously you always want to win,” Harvick said. “But when you can see something come full circle like their situation, it makes you proud to know them and be a part of the sport in general; to see how they’ve supported Sherry and all the things that they’ve gone through.”
Added third-place finisher Jimmie Johnson: “He’s had more to overcome personally and professionally than anybody sitting in a seat right now. And for him to still walk in a garage every week with a smile on his face, climb in the car, put in the effort, be the great guy he is, I think it speaks volumes.”
Receiving all the congratulations for the victory and hearing what his peers are saying about him is humbling, Truex said.
“The way the last year and a half has gone or so for me, up until this year, I think that people kind of got a little bit of an insight into what I’m made of and what kind of person I am, which is cool,” Truex said.
So, back to the original question in the post-race press conference.
Now that he is in the Chase, what does he think his chances are?
“They’re as good as anyone’s out there,” Truex said. “I mean, look what we’ve done the last four weeks. We’ve went head-to-head with the big guys, the 48 (Johnson) and the 4 (Harvick), who have been the guys to beat for a year and a half. The 48 has been the guys to beat for seven, eight years. We’ve been right there with them, toe-to-toe.
“I think we’re still growing. We’re still getting better. I’m just excited to be a part of it, to see what we can do. I know we’re going to work hard, as hard or harder than anybody out there. It’s pretty cool to see what a single-car team from Denver is doing, and it’s awesome to be a part of that.”