Truex Matches Career Best Finish at ISM Raceway

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent

The second runner-up finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Ryan Truex was seven years in the making. The part-time JR Motorsports driver used track position to his advantage while battling ignition issues.

On the final restart of the iK9 Service Dogs 200 at ISM Raceway, Truex’s No. 8 Martin Truex, Jr. Foundation / Sherry Strong Chevrolet Camaro SS lined up behind eventual winner Kyle Busch. He followed Busch into turns one and two, clearing himself of the inside lane. Truex then had to hold off a late charge from Tyler Reddick to score just the second runner-up finish of his Xfinity career.

“I guess it’s good when you lose to Kyle Busch,” Truex joked. “I just got us behind at the start. It was too free, and I couldn’t run anywhere on the track so I lost a lot of track position early. We worked hard all day to keep it up and get it back. Then we had that weird deal with the ignition stop working. I don’t know what was going on there.

“Taylor and the guys worked really hard, proud of them. They made the right changes, did everything they needed to do to give me the car. I got that restart behind Kyle and just got that huge run into one and two. Our car was just so good on the long runs that I was able to hold Reddick off and finish second.”

Early in the race, Truex struggled. An issue with the ignition box cost him positions on the racetrack. A timely caution allowed the Taylor Moyer-led team to fix the issue. However, Truex lined up deeper in the field, likely a mixed blessing. As a result of losing track position, he missed the liquid that Stephen Leicht dropped late in the race, the same liquid that sent both Christopher Bell and fellow JRM driver Justin Allgaier into the outside wall.

Overall, Truex was just thankful for the opportunity.

“I’m thankful to JRM for this opportunity, Chevy, Martin’s foundation for coming on board, Catwalk for a Cause. Feels good to be back up here.”

The second-place finish matches Truex’s best finish, which came at Dover International Speedway in 2012. It is also just his fourth top-five finish of his Xfinity career, the most recent coming at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last year.

Truex’s next start that has been announced as of now is the regular-season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In total he will run eight races for JRM this season.