Will Martin Truex Jr. get revenge on Joey Logano following the incident between the two drivers at the end of the opening race of the round of 8 of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs?
The opening race of the round of 8 of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the First Data 500, at Martinsville Speedway ended in semi-controversial fashion, resulting in Team Penske’s Joey Logano becoming the first driver to clinch a berth in this year’s Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Logano led an overwhelming majority of the laps leading up to the white flag, although Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. was close behind him in second place. In fact, there were many times during which Logano and Truex Jr. were side-by-side in the turns of the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virgina.
But it was Truex Jr. who led the 499th lap of the 500-lap race before clearing the #22 Ford of Logano in his #78 Toyota as the two drivers made their way off of turn two one more time before the checkered flag.
This allowed Logano to put his bumper to the back of the #78 Toyota in turn three to move him out of the way and take the lead. As Logano took the lead, Truex Jr. tried to battle back, but it didn’t pay off, as Logano won the race.
In fact, Truex Jr.’s effort to battle back may very well have cost him second place, as Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin snuck up and took second in his #11 Toyota. It may have even cost him the slight chance that he still had to win the race. He ended up finishing in third.
Here is a video of the end of the race.
But while we could debate whether or not Logano’s move was a clean move for years (even though there really shouldn’t be much of a debate about it), this move is in the past and it is time to move forward.
That said, we may not get to “move forward” without Truex Jr. getting some kind of revenge on the Team Penske driver.
Following the race, a clearly ticked off Truex Jr. stated the following, according to The Washington Post.
"“He may have won the battle, but he ain’t winning the damn war. I’m not going to let him win it (the championship). I’m going to win it.”"
As far as whether or not Truex Jr. will get revenge on Logano, it is really a matter of when and not if. Considering the fact that Logano is now locked into the Championship 4, don’t expect Truex Jr. to get revenge on him in either of the two races that remain on the round of 8 schedule at Texas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway.
There would be zero point in Truex Jr. doing that.
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Expect Truex Jr., whether he ends up in the Championship 4 or not, to get revenge on Logano in some way, shape or form during the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in mid-November.
Even if solely for the purpose of making clear that he is not going to be a pushover now nor in the future, Truex Jr. getting revenge on Logano seems inevitable.
That’s not even mentioning the fact that Logano has a history with causing contact with other playoff drivers in playoff races. Look at what he did to Matt Kenseth in the round of 12 race at Kansas Speedway in 2015. In the round of 8 race at Martinsville Speedway later that season, Kenseth got revenge, and he got it in a big way.
Will we see that kind of revenge from Truex Jr.? If Truex Jr. ends up in the Championship 4, I doubt that he will go to the extent that Kenseth did to ruin Logano’s championship chances since it would likely come at the expense of his own championship chances.
But if at any point in time during the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway Truex Jr. finds himself out of contention to win the championship, expect him to do whatever he can possible do, even if it means going “Matt Kenseth mode”, to make sure that the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series champion is somebody other than Joey Logano.
Do you believe that Martin Truex Jr. will get revenge on Joey Logano for moving him out of the way to win this past Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway? If so, when do you believe Truex Jr. will get his revenge on Logano, and do you believe that his revenge will be what prevents Logano from winning his first career NASCAR Cup Series championship this year?