Martin Truex’s team changes tire on track during practice
NASCAR’s reality has a habit of being stranger than fiction at times.
For instance, if you crafted a fake story about a car’s team members being allowed to work on a car while on the track during a practice session, you would have likely been laughed at and/or dismissed. But that’s exactly what happened during the early moments of Friday’s Sprint Cup Series practice.
Martine Truex Jr. had an apparent flat left-rear tire. So he stopped on the backstretch and pulled below the racing surface onto the apron. Practice was stopped for his issue, and instead of limping his car around to the garage or having it pushed by the wrecker, Truex simply waiting for his team to arrive.
And NASCAR acquiesced to Furniture Row Racing’s desires. Crew members came out to Truex’s car and changed the left rear tire. They put a placeholder tire on the car and Truex slowly drove back to the garage. All while practice continued to be stopped.
It was certainly an odd arrangement; something that we can’t ever remember seeing happen during a practice session. Tire and other mechanical issues in practices aren’t rare. But a team coming out on track to fix the car? That’s an odd one.
We’ll see if any other teams mimic the No. 78’s move if and when they have practice issues in the future. NASCAR might have set an awkward precendent.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
