Joey Logano says his incident with Martin Truex Jr. last week at Martinsville is water under the bridge.
Logano and Truex Jr. tangled while racing for the lead on the final lap of last week’s First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway. The contact propelled Logano to Victory Lane while Truex Jr. was left with nothing more than a third-place finish, a turn of events that sparked some angry words from the defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion.
As the series moves to Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500, Logano is comfortable about where the duo stands after last week thanks in no small part to a series of text messages between the two.
“I can’t say I was surprised that he texted me,” Logano said Friday at Texas. “I am glad he did. It kind of broke the ice. I was planning on waiting a couple days to let things settle. It got a lot of things out of the way.
“We both know where we stand. We know where it is at. It is what it is and we move on.”
Logano said the text from Truex Jr. came Sunday night only hours after the checkered flag flew at Martinsville. While he didn’t respond immediately, the Team Penske driver had a good reason.
“He texted me on Sunday night,” Logano explained. “I was actually driving so I had to wait until I got home to respond. It worked out well. It wouldn’t make any sense if the AAA driver texted on the way home. That would be really bad.”
However while Logano and Truex Jr. have communicated there is still some speculation about payback or retaliation at least down the road.
“I think time will tell,” Logano said. “I think he was a little frustrated and that is part of it. I also think it is short track racing. All of that was on the line at that point and I think we both understand that there was so much on the line and that is what happens sometimes.
“Like I said, it is short-track racing. That bump-and-run move, although that was probably the most popular one of the whole race because it was for the win on the last lap, probably happened 10 or 15 times before that and it didn’t get covered. It is a classic move in NASCAR that happens a lot, every time we go there, whether it is on lap 20 or lap 499.”
Logano has one of the four spots sewn up for the Championship 4 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Knowing he has a chance to run for the title hasn’t completely changed his approach to the next two races in the Round of 8 at Texas or ISM Raceway in Phoenix.
“We don’t have anything to lose and that is cool, especially this time of year,” he said. “There is still a trophy to win so we focus on winning that trophy.
“It is not like we have just come here on vacation. That is not what we are doing. We need to continue the success that we have had here the last few weeks and continue that to Miami. It is important for us to run well. The advantage of being able to focus on Miami and making that car as great as possible, we have that advantage to be able to start doing that now. I also don’t think it is worth throwing away these races at this point either.”
