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Long: After 27 years away, lucky charm returned for Martin Truex Jr.'s championship

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Martin Truex Jr. lifts the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series trophy with the help of crew chief Cole Pearn. Truex Jr. credits his team with resurrecting his career.

HOMESTEAD, Florida — Its origins remain mysterious, just as if the good luck charm really has any power.

But a series of fortunate events followed after it was given by a Los Angeles firefighter to hall of fame drag racer Darrell Gwynn in 1989. After sitting in his trophy case 27 years, Gwynn gave it to Martin Truex Jr. on Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Two days later, Truex pulled the lucky rabbit’s foot from his uniform pocket after winning his first Cup championship.

“That son of a bitch worked!’’ he said.

Was it luck? That would discredit the effort Truex, crew chief Cole Pearn and the rest of the Denver, Colorado-based Furniture Row Racing team did to win Sunday’s season finale.

Even in a year when things seemed to come easy for this team — Truex’s eight victories were the most since Denny Hamlin accomplished that feat in 2010 — this race was a struggle. Truex did not have the strongest car much of the race. He only asserted his strength late in the race when the sun set over South Florida.

He also had help. When title contender Brad Keselowski pitted on Lap 198 of the 267-lap race, Pearn called Truex to pit immediately. Title contender Kevin Harvick followed. They all would have to pit again but with fresh tires so much faster than old tires, it was a move they felt they had to make.

“We hadn’t talked about it a lot, and kind of realized in a split‑second way that that was what we were going to have to do to be something different because one split stop in the run wasn’t going to beat (Kyle Busch) being better than us on the long run.’’

Crew chief Adam Stevens kept Busch on track and in the lead until Lap 215. It was Busch’s last scheduled stop.

But a caution on Lap 229 ruined the strategy for Stevens and Busch. Truex led and Busch was fourth as they entered pit road. Truex exited first and Busch gained a spot to third but it meant he would restart on the inside of the second row. The outside line — where Truex chose to start as the leader — was the preferred line. Busch lost two spots on the restart and fell to fifth with 34 laps to go.

While Busch charged, he couldn’t get close enough to Truex make a move for the win and finished second.

“I just found a line that worked for my car with 20 laps to go that I couldn’t find all day long,’’ Truex said. “Not only did it help my car but it hurt Kyle’s car. He got to second, and when he did, he was three, four tenths (of a second) faster than I was before I found the line, and that was the difference.

“Just found it when I needed it. The timing was right, and we made it happen.’’

When the white flag flew for the final lap and Truex knew the race was “over.’’

The next time he came by, he scored the win and the championship by leading his 78th lap of the race in the No. 78 car.

“Are you serious, 78 laps?’’ Truex said when informed of that.

“You know, some things are just meant to be, I guess. That’s all you can say. Last year wasn’t meant to be. We worked just as hard as we did this year, and this year just it all came together. It felt right. It was our time, and that’s proof right there, there is a higher power.’’

And maybe the power of a rabbit’s foot.

Gwynn’s lucky charm came from a friend who often volunteered to work for Gwynn’s drag racing team at the California races. The first time he showed up at Pomona to work with the team, they won. One year, the friend took the rabbit’s foot to Pomona and rubbed the starting line with it. Gwynn won.

He doesn’t know where the rabbit’s foot came from but knows sometimes a little luck doesn’t hurt. His friend later convinced Gwynn to put it in his dragster at the 1989 U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. Gwynn qualified first, set the national record and won the title. The next week, Gwynn dominated the Keystone Nationals in Pennsylvania. He won the Gatornationals in early 1990 with the rabbit’s foot in the car.

Gwynn didn’t have it when he suffered life-threatening injures in an April 1990 crash in England that has left him in a wheelchair since.

“After I got hurt, the rabbit’s foot meant so much to me,’’ Gwynn told NBC Sports. “I took it out of my car and put it in my trophy case. This week, I had it hanging in my garage. I got a text from Martin and I asked him, ‘Hey can I count on you to fish in the tournament (at Homestead on Friday). Martin’s answer is always ‘Of course you can count on me.’

“It just made me think a little of Martin as a person. As I was going out of my garage, I saw the rabbit’s foot there and I said I know somebody who can use that this weekend. He’s been running good all year long but he needs some luck here because the way the format is, it’s all down to one (race). I took it out of the trophy case after 27 years.

“The deal was if it worked, he got to keep it. If it didn’t work, I got it back for sentimental reasons. I’m glad it worked. I wanted to him to win. I love his story. I love him.’’

Truex, though, is blunt about his belief in such items.

“I don’t believe in lucky charms,’’ he said. “I don’t have superstitions.’’

So why did he take the rabbit’s foot?

“I carried it because I respect Darrell a lot,’’ Truex said. “He’s a good friend of mine, and the fact that it meant enough to him ‑ this weekend meant enough to him for him to take something out of his trophy case after 27 years that he really believed would help me, I was going to put it in my damned pocket. Period. End of story.’’

And there it was as Truex celebrated his title.

“Whether this rabbit’s foot contributed to this win or not,’’ Gwynn said, “the fact is he won and to me that’s what I wanted to see happen this weekend.’’

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