NASCAR: Martin Truex Jr. caps dominant season with Cup title
By Alex Herbst
Do you believe in miracles? The little team that could in NASCAR just took Martin Truex Jr. to victory lane and his first-ever Cup Series championship.
It all came down to Miami. The final race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season has every storyline you can imagine for a sport as big as stock car racing. Four drivers entered the weekend in the hunt for the coveted title, but they were not the only story.
Three drivers were ending their full-time racing careers at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Two young guns were looking for one more win to end the year. And one driver, Martin Truex Jr., claimed it all by winning his first Cup Series championship.
In the Ford EcoBoost 400, it took winning the race for the champion to be crowned. Martin Truex Jr. used every inch of the Homestead-Miami Speedway to hold off Kyle Busch to win the race and hoist the first-ever Monster Energy NASCAR championship. It was not only the first Cup Series title for Truex Jr., but also the first for Furniture Row Racing, a team that few would have considered a contender for the championship just five years ago.
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Truex, originally from New Jersey, got his start in NASCAR in the former Busch Series with help from Dale Earnhardt Jr., who raced for the final time in the Cup Series on Sunday in Miami. It was almost poetic that Truex Jr. would win the title in the final race for NASCAR’s biggest Junior.
The race was one of the cleanest and most exciting of the year, appropriate for the final race of the 2017 season. Side-by-side action dominated the storylines at the front, with all four of the championship contenders in the top five throughout the night. Kyle Larson, not among the title combatants, also fought valiantly, trying to claim one last win this season.
As Truex Jr. and Furniture Row Racing are celebrating, three drivers will be reminiscing about great careers in NASCAR. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, and Danica Patrick have raced for the final time as full-time drivers in the Cup Series, capping off careers that changed the face of the sport. From championship performances to breaking barriers, these three drivers have helped shape stock car racing as fans see it today.
Furniture Row Racing and Martin Truex Jr. have been the feel-good story of 2017, battling adversity both on and off the track. From losing a crew member, Truex’s girlfriend Sherry Pollex battling cancer, and owner Barney Visser having a heart attack, this team was galvanized and brought together throughout the playoffs, and came out as champions.
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Beyond The Flag congratulates Martin Truex Jr. and Furniture Row Racing on their first-ever Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship. We look forward to continuing to cover the NASCAR garage throughout the offseason and into 2018.