As NASCAR is just hours away from rolling out its fury on the 1.5-mile oval of Homestead-Miami, a lot of odds have started showing up on everyone’s plates. Perhaps the biggest of these highlights is the tricky challenge that this intermediate track offers. Firstly, the track has multiple grooves throughout its course. And secondly, the sun shines so brightly in Florida that it often becomes a problem for the drivers to see things straight.

Even seasoned drivers like Martin Truex Jr. didn’t escape the clutches of the vibrant sun. During a pre-race presser of Sunday’s 4EVER 400, Martin Truex Jr. went back a year and assured everyone on the grid that they had made necessary adjustments to the windshields of his #19 Toyota and that it’s just a matter of time before the team gets to know how the changes work out for them. Nevertheless, his opinions about the move that Kyle Larson made on him a year ago remained unchanged.

Martin Truex Jr. admits that the HMS star wasn’t at fault

Back in the day, Martin Truex Jr. was in a good spot to win and advance into the coveted Championship 4 race. However, bad luck intervened for the racer. It all started with a caution that came out after 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick spun off turn 4 and wrecked in the 245th lap of the 267-lap-long race.

Several cars, including Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson, decided to commit to the pit road. And while Truex was entering the pit road, he suddenly slowed down. Kyle Larson, who was running second back then, was a fraction of a second late to press the brakes and bumped into Truex’s Toyota.

As a result, Truex spun out but luckily ended up in his pit stall area. Fast forward to today, Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports was curious if the Joe Gibbs Racing team had made any changes to the windshield so that the misery didn’t return. To the utter glee of his fans, Truex nodded.

“Yeah, we’ve tried a few different things, so I’ll let you know tomorrow how they work,” he said, “The biggest thing from the incident last year was just there was a lot of debris on the windshield at the time and needed a tear off. We should have a better pit stall too tomorrow.”

Even today, Truex believes that it wasn’t Larson’s fault, but just an unfortunate situation. “It was just a crazy situation with us and (Kyle) Larson last year. Wish he tapped the brake, but it wasn’t really his fault in that situation. Just a bad scenario,” he added, explaining the unfortunate moment.

Despite all his miseries in the current playoff season, the Stafford resident snatched the pole for Sunday’s Cup race. This could point to the fact that maybe Martin Truex Jr. had found his mojo back and would put up a valorous show at Homestead-Miami.

Watch this story: The Unfortunate Gamble: Martin Truex Jr’s NASCAR Cup Playoff Upset

Martin Truex Jr. crosses a milestone for Toyota

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In every race across the three top-tier racing series of NASCAR, the starting position matters a lot. When one starts at the front end, one receives the biggest advantage of clean air and hence, can choose the most favorable lane. And Martin Truex Jr. will be in that advantageous position during the second race of the round of 8.

Truex flaunted a blazing fast lap of 167.411 mph, winning his 22nd Cup career pole. Moreover, his victory marked Toyota’s 500th pole across the three series of NASCAR. After coming out of his car, Truex couldn’t believe what he had just done because he never expected the lap to hold up against the others on the roster.

While talking to Dave Burns of NBC Sports, he said, “I thought we could have been a little bit better than everybody. You never know here with… scuff tires is always a challenge and just trying to figure out where everybody’s balance is gonna go.” He further exclaimed, “Just good job on my guys and pretty cool to get that number of poles for Toyota — and one, two, three as well.” What are your predictions on Truex’s run? Let us know in the comments.

Read more: Martin Truex Jr. Reveals “Opposite of Normal” Secret Behind Championship Finesse