Mike Wallace makes contact with Martin Truex Jr. at Richmond. Credit: Travis Kaemmerer/ U.S. Marine Corps

Points leader Truex may face stiff punishment

Pair of on-track incidents at RIR may further cut into lead

RICHMOND, Va. -- Martin Truex Jr. saw his point lead shrink dramatically Friday night at Richmond. Early next week, it could shrink further.

On Lap 203 of the Emerson Radio 250, Mike Wallace came up on Truex off Turn 2 and sent the defending series champion up the side of the wall. With two wheels on top of the wall and the other two on the track, Truex went all the way around Turns 3 and 4 with the roof of the car perpendicular to the racing surface.

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"That was pretty ridiculous, really," an obviously angry Truex said after the race. "We had a top-five car and had a good night going, and then we got black-flagged for getting into a little bit of an accident and popping a hood pin out."

That little incident -- complete with crew chief Kevin Mannion screaming at NASCAR officials about the decision to throw the black flag -- cost Truex two laps. His crew taped the hood down and sent him back out in 32nd place.

Truex was working his way back through traffic when he got squeezed by Wallace.

"I don't know; maybe he's blind," Truex said of Wallace after the race. "We had a top-five run going and then that happened. It's just real disappointing."

Truex has seen a once-massive 204-point lead evaporate to just 94 points over Clint Bowyer in the last two weeks. Bowyer had a relatively uneventful run to 11th place Friday.

Asked what the ride on his side was like, Truex shrugged. "I just kept it to the wood and waited for it to turn back over," he said. "Hopefully, it was going to turn over the right way and I could keep going."

Despite the way it looked, Truex didn't really hurt the car that much. Truex had already left to go to his motorcoach when he got the call to get back in. He did, and finished 27th.

Truex and Mannion were summoned to the Busch Series hauler after the race. As a result, Truex faces a possible fine and docking of championship points.

Wallace said he didn't see Truex on the high side, as he was racing for position.

"I didn't know he was out there," Wallace said. "I was running the top of the track, and he got up there higher. I didn't know he was up there. I know he's upset and I'm sorry about it.

"He had a lot of nice gestures for me, and so did his dad, but I'm sorry. I'm sure they make mistakes over there every now and then. He's a championship driver and he'll recover from it."