Kyle Larson used what he called the "most perfect restart of my life," to steal the win in overtime at the Pure Michigan 400. Martin Truex Jr. finished second and he is not too happy about that fact.
According to NBSSports, Truex Jr. was "angry" about his restart, saying:
"My screw-up gave him the win, basically. [...] If a guy screws up in front of you, you take advantage. So I screwed up and he took advantage, that's the way it works."
Truex Jr. had his strategy all planned out on the restart, hoping Larson would bump him from behind to launch him to the win. It didn't work out, and that is why he is angry at himself.
"Kyle laid back a car length coming into the restart zone, and so I waited later in the zone to go, waiting for him to catch up to me. I actually wanted him to hit me," Truex Jr. said.
"When he did, I tried to go. It spun the tires. I did everything right. It caught me by surprise. I hadn't spun the tires all day long, did not expect to have an issue with it. When I did, there was nothing I could do. I was helpless. He had the momentum and done what everybody else would have done. My screw-up gave him the win basically.''
Related: Playoff driver ends losing streak with an amazing restart at Michigan
Earlier in the race, teammate Erik Jones was in second behind Truex Jr. With the rookie having zero wins and being comfortably in first place in the points, Martin was asked if he considered letting Jones by into the lead.
"That's not how we race,'' Truex said. "Nobody out there races that way. Nobody is going to give a Cup win up. They're too hard to get.''