PHOENIX (AP) – Martin Truex Jr. stood on the pit street shortly after his first victory in Phoenix over a cup …
PHOENIX (AP) – Martin Truex Jr. stood in the pit lane moments after his maiden win in Phoenix over a nearly 20-year Cup career, quickly setting a goal for a more significant race on the track.
“I wish it was November,” said Truex. “Hopefully we can come back in November and have a chance for the championship.”
Eight months later, Truex is back in the desert and, as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver had hoped, does indeed have a chance at the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Truex didn’t quite give his chance and guaranteed his place in the field, but the 2017 champion had good reason to feel back among the four drivers battling for the title at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday. This is the fifth time Truex has competed for the championship since 2015 and with two previous runners-up he has as good a chance as any of the other three drivers to win it all.
Always a threat on the track, Truex is the most humble championship contender in the cup.
Denny Hamlin is driven by raw emotions from dealing with other drivers and, like his 23XI owner Michael Jordan, finds every little thing as motivation. Kyle Larson’s return from suspension for racially insulting the driver to be beaten was the story of the season. With a second straight title in sight, Chase Elliott competes in the World Series games screaming himself hoarse to fight for the Atlanta Braves.
And Truex?
Roughly the only time that any light shines on Truex outside of racing is when he walks the catwalk to raise money for charity.
“Fortunately, I haven’t had any confrontations lately,” Truex said on Thursday. “In a race like this, it’s always good not to have any enemies.”
A year after its worst season since becoming a constant competitor, Truex went about business quietly, winning four races. The 41-year-old native of New Jersey prefers fishing and hunting in his spare time rather than making headlines off the track. Hamlin and Larson got the most media attention with the four drivers speaking simultaneously ahead of the final this weekend.
Spending time in the championship spotlight, however, beats the alternative – not racing for the title at all. Truex’s four wins marked the fifth time he has hit that total since 2016, including 2017 when he won the best career of his career eight times. But last season, Truex stumbled on season one when he was with crew chief James Small. He had only one win in the No. 19 Toyota and was seventh overall last season.
The first real sign he was on the rebound came in March when he overtook Joey Logano on the last restart and won the mile track for the first time in 31 races of his career.
“That was the best car I’ve had here in my entire career,” he said. “The car felt really good and did a lot of good things. If we can do that again and hopefully have more speed, we will be difficult to handle. ”
Truex won the second playoff race in Richmond and drove a battered car into the fourth and final slot in the playoff field in Martinsville last week. While his spring win gave his repeat bid a boost, Truex has traditionally struggled at Phoenix and has only had five top five with four DNFs in his career.
Truex, who signed a contract extension before the Daytona 500, had three career wins in the Cup series in its first 10 full seasons before starting his career at the now-defunct Furniture Row Racing in 2016. He has 28 of his 31 career wins since 2016 and is a multi-year contender for the championship. Truex competed for the title with FRR in three of the last four seasons – he won in 2017 and was runner-up by Logano in 2018. In 2019 he finished second again in his first season with JGR.
Truex held the lead with 12 laps to go in 2018 when the championship race took place in Homestead-Miami before Logano caught up with him on the track and his 2019 offer was tarnished by a tire mix-up in the pits that gave him his chance at Kyle. cost Bush. Sunday’s 312 mile race means there is little time to overcome any late problems that may arise.
“We were second in the last two and probably had the best car,” said Truex.
JGR teammate Hamlin has two wins and time is of the essence for the veteran to win his first cup championship. Larson has nine wins for Hendrick Motorsports and teammate Elliott has two.
“I feel like the best four teams are in the last four,” said Larson.
With a win, Truex would be the only active rider with two championships to join Kyle Busch.
“We know we have a great chance. But we don’t have the weight of the world on our shoulders, ”said Truex. “We have done this before. We have been here before. We understand what is important. ”
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