Martin Truex Jr. has notched countless achievements throughout his 23-year NASCAR career — two NASCAR Xfinity Series championships, a NASCAR Cup Series title, 47 victories across both series, two Coca-Cola 600 wins and a Southern 500 triumph.
One event in particular, however, has eluded him — a Daytona 500 victory.
Truex came within a car nose of hoisting the Harley J. Earl Trophy in 2016, but lost that battle to current teammate Denny Hamlin in what remains the closest finish in Daytona 500 history.
Entering his 20th Daytona 500 this weekend at Florida’s Daytona Int’l Speedway, Truex is at peace, regardless of the outcome.
“I want to win the Daytona 500, it would be great, obviously. Daytona has been a tough one for us,” Truex admitted. “We’ve been second there before and though we had it won back in 2016, we just got beat out by a few inches by Denny (Hamlin).
“I don’t know if I’d be completely disappointed with my career as a whole if, someday when I retire, I look back and I’m like, ‘Ah, I didn’t win that race.’ I don’t know if that is a big deal to me or not,” Truex continued.
“I still have opportunities to get it done, so I try not to think about it. But it’d be huge to win, that’s for sure, to be able to get our Bass Pro Shops Camry XSE in victory lane and covered in confetti.”
Ironically, Truex knew the heartbreak the Great American Race can bring even before his first start in the event in 2005.
As a fan of Dale Earnhardt, Truex endured the trials the “The Intimidator” dealt with before the famed driver of the black No. 3 was triumphant in his 20th Daytona 500.
“When Dale Earnhardt finally won the Daytona 500 in 1998 was one I remember the most,” Truex recalled. “I was a fan of his growing up, so I watched a lot of those heartbreaking finishes prior to that where he led and something would happen, have a flat tire, hit a seagull, whatever would happen.
“To be able to see him finally win, and how many of his peers on pit road came out to congratulate him because everyone knew how much that race meant to him, to his career and to the sport.”
Thus, Truex will look to replicate Earnhardt’s winning performance in his 20th try on Sunday.
When asked what the feeling would be like to finally bask in the confetti in victory lane at Daytona, Truex said, “It’s hard to understand what it really feels like to win.”
“You go back and watch guys who have won that race for the first time, whether they’ve won a lot and won championships or won it early on in their career, you just see the excitement and how much it means,” Truex said.
“I don’t think it’s something you can understand until you can make it happen yourself and experience a win there yourself.”