Truex
dominated the day on Pocono’s “Tricky Triangle,” leading 97 of 160 laps en
route to a celebration that included a
lengthy, tear-filled embrace with longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex, who
has battled Stage Three Ovarian Cancer with a yearlong regimen of surgery and
chemotherapy.
The
victory snapped Truex’s personal, 69-race winless skid, and was the second for Furniture
Row Racing owner Barney Visser, who ignored conventional wisdom a decade ago by
headquartering his team in Denver, Colo. The team’s first victory – with driver
Regan Smith in the 2011 Southern 500 at Darlington – seemed light years away
Sunday, but after leading the most laps in each of the previous three races, it
was clear that FRR’s next trip to Victory Lane was not a question of `if,’ but
`when.’
“We've
had a great season,” said Truex, whose previous Sprint Cup Series wins came at Dover
in 2007 and Sonoma in 2013. “Throughout my career, I’ve gotten used to
disappointment. I’ve learned to deal with days where it didn’t go your way,
even though you didn’t do anything wrong. We have had everything it has taken
to win races (this year), but we just hadn’t got it done. This team deserves to
win and I’ve known that all year long.”
Truex
was dominant on four late-race restarts Sunday, leaping away to large leads
while his pursuers struggled to get up to speed. “The difference was one real
good (restart),” he admitted. “Joey Logano gave me a good shot. I just tried to
mix it up so they weren’t sure what I was going to do next. I think we
picked the right gear ratio for restarts here, and that is critical."
Truex
opened a 2.75-second lead with 12 laps to go, and cruised to a comfortable margin
of victory that had even his fellow competitors expressing happiness.
"If
you’re going to lose to somebody today, that’s a great person to lose to,” said
runner-up Kevin Harvick afterward. “You look at everything -- personally and
professionally – that Martin and Sherry have dealt with and you have to be happy
for them. To see them have that bright spot is something I think the whole
garage will support and be happy with.”
“He’s
been through a lot of stuff, both inside the car and outside the car,” said
longtime friend Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who stormed Victory Lane to douse Truex
with an impromptu Diet Mountain Dew shower. “He’s been able to get into a good opportunity
with good people. He’s got a team that believes in him. They’ve come a long way
over the last several years.”
“It
doesn’t get any better than this,” said Truex amidst the post-race chaos. “It
takes time to heal things, especially with what Sherry and I went through. But
this makes you forget all about it. I feel blessed to be with this group of
guys. I’m just proud to drive cars for them and proud that Sherry is here,
healthy. She is as excited as I am and everything is going well for her.”
"Oh, my God," admitted Pollex of their yearlong
battle. "We have been through so much."
A
year ago, the daughter of former NASCAR Busch Series team owner Greg Pollex lost
her ovaries, spleen, appendix, fallopian tubes and part of her stomach to the
surgeon’s knife, before yielding her hair and 25 pounds to the ravages of
weekly chemotherapy. While her cancer is
now in remission, Pollex still undergoes monthly chemotherapy treatments,
including the day following Truex’s Pocono victory.
"I didn't want to get too excited the last two laps
because we've been so close so many times this year,” she said. “Last year was
tough, with my diagnosis and the car not running well. (But) this year, they
started off with a bang. Everything has gone his way and the cars have been so
good. He's been so close.”
Ironically,
it was Pollex who delivered a critical pep-talk following a 2013 season that
saw Truex lose his ride with Michael Waltrip Racing when sponsor NAPA Auto
Parts departed in the aftermath of an on-track scandal that cost a spot in the
Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
“We
knew it was going to take a lot of work,” he said. “We knew it was going to be
a tough road. I felt really fortunate that there was a great ride open with the
78 (team). Then Sherry’s situation happened and it was like, `All right, this
is when you show people what you’re made of.’
“She
showed me what she was made of (fighting cancer),” he said. And I was like, `Wow,
if she can do that, I can do this.’”
Great post about good things happening to good people! Ya gotta love it!
ReplyDeleteGood victory all the way around. My friend and I was going nuts watching the end of that race. With living in western Nebraska, we consider FRR our "home team".
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story about great people , Martin , Sherry and Barney the car owner , what an inspiration and feel good story !!!!
ReplyDeleteSome wins just seem better than others.
ReplyDelete