With a series best six victories, Martin Truex Jr. is the winningest driver in the Monster Energy Series right now, but with the slate of tracks on deck in the Playoffs, he may also be the most confident.
Truex won the opening two Playoff races – at Las Vegas and Richmond – to bring his season’s victory tally to six. And while that pace right out of the gates was a huge message to the competition, he will start the second round of the Playoffs this weekend ranked second to regular season champion and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch – by a mere five points.
Confidence will not be a problem for the 39-year old New Jersey native this weekend at Dover, International Speedway where he has three wins – including the first series victory of his career back in 2007. A decade later he was hoisting the series championship trophy.
This season Truex has made a compelling case to be considered the title favorite. He has 12 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes through the opening 29 races. He has seven more races to try to equal his career best mark of eight season wins – a mark set in his 2017 title run.
Truex was a perfect three-for-three in top-10 finishes in the opening Playoff round – his 3.0 average finish is best in show. Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski are next – having averaged a 4.0 finish in the opening three Playoff races.
With a victory in the series’ first visit to Dover in May, Truex is the most recent winner at the track. He has six top-five and 15 top-10 finishes and three wins in 27 Dover starts. Truex has finished ninth or better in seven of the last nine races. He’s been top five in five of the last six, including two wins in that time.
His victory in May was a strong signal to the field. He won the race by more than nine seconds – easily the largest Margin of Victory this season.
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