Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats team went into Sunday’s Sylvania 300 looking to finish the season solid and show everyone just how strong the No. 1 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Team can be during the final 10 races of the 2008 season.
Sunday’s race was a step in that direction, with Truex turning in a solid seventh-place effort . It was the DEI driver’s eighth top-10 finish of the year.
The starting lineup was set based on 2008 owner points, after rain forced the cancellation of qualifying for the second week in a row, and Truex started the race 18th based on his positoin.
The Mayetta, N.J. native patiently worked his way toward the front, breaking into the top 10 on lap 110. He would remain a fixture in the lead pack of cars for the remainder of the race.
The afternoon was relatively calm until the latter portion of the 300-lap event. There were four caution periods over the last 71 laps, with the biggest accident occurring on lap 229. The incident involved four cars and caused the race to be red flagged while NASCAR crews cleaned up the debris.
“I think we would’ve been a top-five car had the race stayed green, but the caution came out a couple of times and that slowed our momentum,” Truex said. “It took us a while to get going on restarts, but we were fine after we got some laps on our tires.
“The main thing for us is that we were competitive again. Bono (crew chief Kevin Manion) and the guys gave me a great car. We’ve struggled the last few weeks, so hopefully this means we can finish out the year on a positive note.”
Truex moved up two spots to 15th in 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup points.
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