The Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum may have been a non-points race, however, the event proved to be an important one for Martin Truex Jr.
It all started during the offseason. A culmination of disappointment and bad luck left the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team on the outside of the 16-grid playoffs last season. It was the first time Truex had missed the playoffs since 2014.
As the JGR team prepared for 2023, Truex’s crew chief James Small noticed a different characteristic from Truex.
“Mad,” Truex calmly stated.
The 42-year-old went winless last season, something he hadn’t done since 2014.
“Just determined. Just have a lot of fire in my belly to go out and change what we did last year,” Truex continued. “If you look at all the statistics, we had a decent year. We were consistent. We scored a lot of points. We struggled on short tracks and road courses, which ultimately is what kept us out of the playoffs.
“Just so many times that we felt like we were doing the right things and probably should have won a couple races, and they got away from us. That was very, very frustrating. Knowing that we were doing everything we needed to do to win, it sucked.”
With fuel added to the fire, Truex and the No. 19 team came out with guns blazing, showing speed throughout practice and qualifying, before leading the final 24 laps at the L.A. Coliseum en route to victory lane.
“We’ve been very fired up this off-season, working very hard, all of us,” Truex said. “It’s just nice when it all works out and you can come to the track and things go the way you hope they will.”
The Clash marked a 180-degree turn for Truex, who struggled to find speed in last season’s inaugural event, finishing 19th.
“It’s huge. It’s a huge confidence booster,” Truex said. “Just reminds you that you’re doing the right stuff. Honestly, we were probably the worst car here last year, literally, besides maybe the guys that didn’t have charters. We were just God awful. We barely made the race. Rode around the back and I spun out by myself on the last lap it was so bad, trying to pass one car.”
Despite being the fastest in Saturday’s practice, Truex had his doubts heading into Sunday’s race as he was unsure if he’d be able to pass cars on the quarter-mile bullring.
“To come back this year and be first in practice, I was really honestly nervous last night,” Truex said. “I went to bed thinking today was going to suck. It was going to be a long day because it’s going to be hard to pass and we were starting sixth in our heat on the outside.
“They only take five. It’s like, ‘Well, if you finish fifth, you’re still going to suck in the race because you’re going to start 20th.’ To be able to drive up through the field in the heat and win that was just huge. It was a huge confidence builder.”
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