Martin Truex Jr.

After dealing with a poor handling race car and a couple of penalties from NASCAR, Martin Truex Jr. was proud of his team’s 12th – place finish in Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

“Considering all that happened to us, we’ll take 12th and be happy,” Truex said. “We kept battling and I’m proud of the guys for hanging in there.”

After starting the event in the 33rd position, Truex began an immediate push to the front. The driver of the Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet had moved into the top-15 when the second caution flag of the race appeared on lap 39. Crew chief Kevin Manion called his driver in for two fresh tires and gas. The move worked, with Truex gaining 10 spots on pit road. Unfortunately, it was determined that he had sped on pit road and he was forced to the tail end of the longest line.

“Sorry about that, guys – my fault,” Truex said. “Don’t worry about it,” replied Manion. “You’ve got a car that’s good enough to get back to the front.”

The race almost came to an early end for the Dale Earnhardt Inc. team on lap 47 when a wreck involving seven cars occurred in front of Truex as he was making his way back toward the lead pack. Manion called his driver down pit road under caution so the crew could repair the body damage on the left front of the car. On leaving the pits, however, it was determined that Truex had run the stop light at the end of pit road and he was put one lap down. He restarted the race in 34th.

The tide began to turn for the Bass Pro Shops team on lap 55 when another multi-car crash brought out the day’s fifth caution flag and Truex was awarded the “lucky dog”, placing him back on the lead lap.

From there, Truex and the team continued to fight their way around the legendary 2.5-mile track, often overcoming poor track position and dealing with lapped traffic. At the end of the day Truex had picked up a hard-earned finish of 12th.

“We struggled with the setup on the car for the first half of the race,” Truex said. “We kept messing with the handling, trying to find the right setup. We found the right combination but it was pretty late in the race.

“Plus, I didn’t help matters by speeding off pit road. Then we got a lap down. We hung in there and kept fighting and I’m proud of all the guys for not giving up. It was a good finish after all that.”

Truex is currently 11th in NASCAR Nextel Cup Series points.