DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Sorry, Denver. But we gave it our best shot to have NASCAR’s most prestigious trophy join the Broncos’ Super Bowl trophy in the Mile High City.

If you saw the Daytona 500 on Sunday, you know how close we came — inches from winning the “Great American Race.”

Denny Hamlin, from the Joe Gibbs Racing stable, edged us at the finish line by only 0.010 of a second (less than a foot). It was the closest Daytona 500 finish in the race’s history.

Though I am proud of what we accomplished after crashing cars on the final lap of the last two (nonpoint) races during Speedweeks, I would rather lose by a few feet instead of a few inches. I am going to have to look at Sunday’s highlight the rest of my life. And each time, I will see I am going to be a few inches short. Ouch!

The last lap, we were in great position behind Matt Kenseth. I felt like if Matt would have stayed in front of us, maybe he would have probably held off Denny. He went up to try to block Denny’s run, but Denny cut inside, and made it three wide. He just side drafted me off Turn 4 all the way to the line. I felt like I had enough momentum to keep him behind me. I did all the way up until that last couple of feet. He just shot out that last couple inches on me right before the line. I wish I would have crowded him up the track a little bit more. Those are split- second decisions.

Like I said, I am proud of our effort, excited to start the season this way. It’s been a tough Speedweeks down here. Our guys worked really, really hard. I think our backup car was the best car we had.

You know, it was a great day for our FRR team. It was our first run in a Toyota. Having Bass Pro Shops and Tracker boats back on board, they have been great supporters of my career. I’m proud of how we worked together with the Joe Gibbs Racing guys. That was important for us to kick off the year, try to start to form that relationship, showing those guys they could trust us, that we’re going to be a strong part of their team.

It was really amazing what we were able to do all day and really just control the race the way we did.

I have to thank all those JGR guys for allowing us to be a part of their team, especially the drivers Sunday for working so well together and letting me be part of that.

I also want to thank our FRR crew both at the track and back at the shop in Denver. They worked countless hours of overtime to get ready for the season. I feel we’re going to have another great year and be a front-runner throughout the Sprint Cup season.

Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., driver of Denver’s No. 78 car, wrote a daily diary for The Post through the Daytona 500.