RELATED: Full race results | Post-race standings | Relive the day in photos
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Martin Truex Jr. had the car to beat in the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Yet, as Saturday night shifted into Sunday morning, it would prove to not be his evening with a sixth-place finish despite leading six times for a race-high 141 laps.
"We just ran out of tires, you know," Truex said on pit road after the race. "Made it through (turns) one and two side-by-side, got to three and just didn't have the grip. Then we fell back because we were sliding around.
"Everybody had new tires, we ran under caution for a long time, they keep building air pressure and losing grip. Pretty big disadvantage, but can't say enough about the guys for the race car they brought here and the weekend we had. It hurts. It's happened a few times to me here. Hurts a little bit, but we'll get over it and we'll move on and we'll take the positives out of it tonight."
Leading the race under caution on Lap 289, Truex stayed out on older tires on the ensuing pit stop. Meanwhile, almost everybody behind him came in. Truex said crew chief Cole Pearn made a call at the last second to come to pit road, but the Furniture Row Racing driver was fearful of darting to pit road and hitting the cone for a penalty. He was able to make it work on that two-lap run under green.
It was the final caution on Lap 295 from a 13-car wreck that doomed him. Truex restarted from the lead but surrendered the point to eventual race winner Kyle Busch and was soon swallowed up by drivers with cars that had fresher tires.
Pearn said after the race that as the leader they were in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.
"You think the clean air is going to pay off more than tires," Pearn said. "It's just a tough spot to be in with the lead and having a dominant car. They're going to do the opposite of whatever you're going to do. Would have been nice if a few more of them stayed out.
"The first restart we got away up front and were going to be alright. The second restart they had a little more upfront with the tires to be able to outrun us. You come to pit, seven of them stay out, you look stupid doing that. Either way you are setting yourself up to look like an idiot. I was proud of everybody. Long season still ahead of us. We'll be all right."
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It wasn't just the race where Truex was strong. The 2015 Championship 4 driver led both practice sessions and qualified third for the race. Despite not walking away with the win, his dominance at Texas on this night didn't go unnoticed.
"I feel bad for him. You love to see your friends do good," second-place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr. said of Truex. "He had a great car tonight, and I was hoping obviously if we couldn't win the race that one of my teammates would, but also you're pulling for your buddy.
"He had such a dominant car, but he's just got to remember that he's with such a good program now, he's in a very good position personally and professionally, and that he's got such a great crew chief and a great group of guys around him that he's going to get opportunities like this again."