Martin Truex Jr. expects to 'run up front' during South Point 400 at Las Vegas
Without a top-15 finish in the NASCAR Playoffs, it is clear that Martin Truex Jr. has underperformed through the first six races. Heading into the Round of 8, the regular season champion is glad to have his bonus points, although he understands if other drivers are frustrated.
Martin Truex Jr. is still a championship threat for Joe Gibbs Racing. All it takes is four solid races to close the season and he could be the one in victory lane at Phoenix. Still, it’s hard to get behind him. After watching those six races in the previous rounds, Truex has to do something different.
He picked a really bad time to hit his slump this season. There is no doubt that he has had his toughest stretch of the year to begin the NASCAR Playoffs.
Ahead of the South Point 400 at Las Vegas, Martin Truex Jr. is feeling good, though. This is a round he can thrive in. Need to turn it up and we need to figure it out quickly.
“That’s the beauty and that’s the thing that sucks about this deal [bonus points], you know what I mean?” Truex Jr. said. “I’m sure there are guys who are upset. They outran us enough to get in, but they didn’t have the bonus points. We have some really good tracks for us this round, so I’m hoping to go out to Vegas and have a good run this weekend and we’ll fight hard the next three races and see where we land with our Bass Pro Shops Camry. Vegas was good for us in the spring and I would expect us to run up front this weekend.”
Martin Truex Jr. isn’t wrong, he has finished in the top-10 in 12 of the last 15 races at Las Vegas.
Martin Truex Jr. has a history in Sin City
Going back through history, Las Vegas has been very kind to Truex Jr. He hasn’t finished outside of the top-10 at this track since February 2020 and his next slip-up before that was back in 2016. Folks, Truex is good at Vegas.
Even if he doesn’t win, Truex Jr. could put up a bunch of points and get an edge heading to Miami and Martinsville. It doesn’t hurt that he’s 12 points above the cutline. He will try to get a win early. Then, he doesn’t have to worry about the elimination race at Martinsville.
Heading into the weekend at Vegas, I like Truex Jr. He just has to prove that he can do it. This entire NASCAR Playoffs we have waited for him to break out of this slump.
I would put my support behind Christopher Bell or Denny Hamlin over Martin Truex Jr. That’s just based on what we’ve seen in the last six weeks. I won’t be shocked if he goes out and has a top-5 performance or better, though. He’s feeling lucky.