Martin Truex Jr. maximizes Michigan performance, falls just short of another win

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Another case of the "Martin Mondays." At least, that's what it looked like through the first two stages in the two-day Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway. Not only did Martin Truex Jr. have the dominant car in the Irish Hills after winning Stage 1, but he additionally charged through the field to go from 14th to the Stage 2 win in a span of 13 laps. Due to varying pit strategies, however, Chris Buescher found himself leading in the final 50 laps and held off Truex to capture back-to-back wins. RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Michigan After losing ground to Buescher after the final pit stops cycled through, Truex reeled in and caught the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford, but when he attempted to get around Buescher to take the lead with 12 laps to go, Truex's No. 19 Toyota snapped loose on the inside of Buescher and couldn't rally back, losing out to the No. 17 by a 0.152-second margin. "I got beside him and about lost it down into (Turn 1). I was just trying to do all I could to get by him without making contact," Truex said. "I easily could’ve got into him there. I feel like we’ve had a good, respectful relationship on the race track, and I wasn’t gonna do anything to wreck him or take a chance at wrecking both of us. Second is better than that." Through the two days of action, Buescher said he and his team took note of the No. 19 being the best car at Michigan and had to devise a certain strategy if the race came down to him and Truex. "That was gonna be really tough, and where they were so good was wrapping the bottom, and I’d seen it yesterday in the race, and we talked about it," Buescher said. "When we went into rain delay, we felt like the 19 was probably the car to beat and was just able to maneuver and get through traffic very well, and so knowing that we had to commit to a little bit higher, kind of a low-mid lane to make our minimum lap time to try to make max speed. And that was letting him get enough air to get really close to us at times, so I just worked to try to cover as best we could." Despite the runner-up finish, Truex fell just one position short of a maximum points day and extended his lead in the Cup Series points standings to 57 points over Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin. Compared to last year, the performance and situation for the No. 19 team is a complete 180-degree swirl. Truex went winless in 2022 and failed to make the playoffs with 15 different winners and Ryan Blaney outpointing him in the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway. Truex's crew chief James Small described what the biggest difference has been from 2022 to 2023. “Honestly, just minimizing the mistakes," Small told NASCAR.com. "Pit road, strategy stuff and just having faster cars as well. Our cars are better this year, and we have a better understanding of what we need to give Martin on a weekly basis, and yeah, I think it’s just everything, so it’s just execution is the key. And outside of that, you can’t control what happens to you, so as long as we all do our jobs properly, then we can run up front every day of the week.” With three wins pocketed and a healthy cushion in the points lead, Truex takes the cup-half-full approach with the playoffs on the horizon. “Yeah, it’s a totally different situation. Today was a really good day," Truex said. "It’s disappointing to run second. It always is, but you know, at the same time, big picture. Two stage wins and second, we gained the most points today, and that’s good for the regular season, so we really want those 15 points. We got a few more races to lock that up, so we’ll see if we can do it.” MORE: Cup playoff standings The Indianapolis Road Course (Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), Watkins Glen International and Daytona will decide Truex's chase for the coveted regular-season championship.