Truex is a driver at the top of his game

Martin Truex Jr. (Getty Images)
Martin Truex Jr. in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 4, 2016 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
Martin Truex Jr. in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 4, 2016 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

LONG POND, Pa. – Before last week’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Martin Truex Jr.’s 2016 season could have been summed up with a lyric from the blues standard “Born Under a Bad Sign.”

“If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all,” could well have been Truex’s theme for the current campaign.

He lost the Daytona 500 to Denny Hamlin by six inches. He led 141 laps at Texas and finished sixth. He won the pole and led 172 of 267 laps at Kansas, only to have a pit road snafu drop him to 14th at the finish.

But Truex’s luck changed at Charlotte, where he turned in one of the most dominating performances in the history of NASCAR racing, leading an event- and track-record 392 laps and a single-race record 588 miles.

All told Truex has led a career-high 809 laps this season—18.8 percent of the 4,303 laps he’s completed.

And though Truex is quick to credit his Furniture Row team and the organization’s move to a factory-supported role with Toyota, the driver of the No. 78 Camry deserves plenty of credit, too.

“I’d have to give most of the credit to the team,” Truex said on Friday at Pocono Raceway, where he is the defending winner of the Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400. “I’m different. I’m doing things different. I feel different. I feel like I’m a better driver than I’ve ever been, but unless you have a great team and all the things around you it takes to be competitive at this level against these drivers against these teams … you’ve got to have it all.

“We just have to stay focused, and I think we know what it takes now. My guys are really, really smart about focusing on the right things, the right areas, giving me the information I need to be a better driver, so just got to keep focused and make sure we’re ready when the last 10 races start this year.”

Though Truex qualified 17th on Friday, failing to advance to the final round of knockout time trials, he was fourth fastest in race trim during final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice on Saturday.

SHORT STROKES

The Busch brothers topped the speed chart in Saturday’s final practice for the Axalta 400. Kyle Busch posted the fastest lap of the session, covering the 2.5-mile distance in 50.876 seconds (176.901 mph). Kurt Busch was close behind at 176.800 mph. … Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Greg Ives worked on their car throughout practice but finished the session 17th on the speed chart at 174.795 mph. Pole winner Brad Keselowski was sixth fastest at 175.792 mph.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.