LDN - Sports

Could this be the year Truex Jr. wins it all?

[June 02, 2017] By Jonathan Ingram, The Sports Xchange

Martin Truex Jr. will probably receive more than his usual warm welcome at this home track of Dover International Speedway this weekend. In addition to winning last fall's race at Dover, the native of Mayetta, N.J., arrives as the points leader of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup championship.

As the schedule nears the clubhouse turn, Truex leads the league in playoff bonus points and is one of three drivers with two victories. Following last year's unfortunate playoff setback of a blown engine at the Talladega Superspeedway, Truex Jr. and his Furniture Row Racing team have shown themselves to be championship material once again.

Perhaps resiliency is the best case for Truex and his team, led by crew chief Cole Pearn, to go the distance. In victory or painful defeat, they remain even-keeled and focused on the next race. On Sunday in Charlotte, Truex Jr. led the most laps in the Coke 600 for the third straight year, but for the second time in that span he lost a shot at victory to a driver on a fuel mileage strategy.

Unlike Kyle Busch, who gave a bitter, very brief answer to the question of Austin Dillon winning by virtue of a fuel strategy, Truex Jr. took it in stride. He had a chance to catch Dillon due to superior speed and the latter's need to lift in the corners, but it was not meant to be for the driver who led 392 laps to win last year's 600.

"I lost quite a bit of time in traffic," he said. "That hurt my right rear tire. I hurt my right rear tire some more. We were just too loose in general. Just missed it a bit there at the end."

Truex Jr. also acknowledged that his team missed a chassis adjustment in the late stages, which also cost him.

"But it's the way it goes sometimes," he said.

Truex Jr. was also gracious as one might expect from a champion -- he is a two-time winner of the Xfinity Series title -- when asked about the effort by the Charlotte Motor Speedway promoter to improve track conditions by putting down VHT to improve traction in the upper groove. It may have hurt Truex Jr.'s chances of repeating, but he praised a move he thought improved the racing.

"Where typically there is the least grip on this racetrack, it was the most tonight," said Truex Jr. "It definitely played a factor. It changed the race quite a bit. I think the downforce rules this year changed it quite a bit as well. The bottom of the racetrack is so bumpy and so slick, I'm telling you after 10 laps it's all you can do to make laps without crashing down there. It definitely changed the race tonight. It made it a lot of fun, I thought it was a good addition."

This year could be the best chance for Truex Jr. to go the distance if only because the postseason schedule is about to change in 2018. The Chicagoland Speedway, where Truex Jr. won last year, is being dropped from the postseason next year. The Charlotte track where he is so strong will host a road race in the 2018 playoffs.

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As for this year, it still includes the 1.5-mile tracks where Truex Jr. performs well. Although the Joe Gibbs Racing team could break out of its victory slump at any time, Truex Jr. and Furniture Row continue to face less than the usual competition from their Toyota brethren.

Also helping Truex Jr. is his current lead in bonus points. Despite his four victories, including two in the playoffs, the blown engine at Talladega last year dropped him to 10th in the playoff standings and he failed to advance. The bonus point system is designed, in part, to help alleviate this kind of misfortune. If Truex Jr. continues to pick up points through the regular season, he'll have a "rainy day fund" of points should his team suffer another mechanical failure.

Last year, Truex Jr. peaked at the right moment, winning three of five races in September and October, concluding with the Chase race at the Dover track. He won two of his five poles during the postseason, including the ill-fated visit to Talladega.

He doesn't have any poles this year, but an average starting position of 8.8 has helped him amass six stage victories that have provided six of his 16 bonus points. The best way to earn those bonus points is an overall victory, which pays five. That's one reason why letting a victory slip away at the end of a race can be so painful. If there's one way for Furniture Row to improve at present, it concerns late-race adjustments, the kind that went awry in Charlotte.

"Finishing third in Charlotte was bittersweet," said Truex. "I felt we had a good shot at winning that race. But it's nice to be the points leader, a tribute to everyone at Furniture Row Racing for their commitment to be the best. We want to keep that ranking, and right now all focus is on this week at one of my favorite tracks. I feel very comfortable on the Dover track and we have run well there since I joined Furniture Row Racing."

Jimmie Johnson, seeking his eighth title and also holding two victories, is one of the major obstacle for Truex Jr.'s bid for a championship. Johnson has 10 victories, the most of any active driver, at the Monster Mile, which will be hosting one of the playoff races once again in October. Should the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota get the better of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy once again this weekend, that would certainly send a message.

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