Carlie Nichols
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Martin Truex Jr. Brings Home a Top-Five Finish at Phoenix
March 11, 2018
Martin Truex Jr. started the race weekend off on a high note by clinching the pole for the Ticket Guardian 500 at ISM Raceway. Truex flew around the one-mile Phoenix race track in 26.288 seconds (136.945 mph) on Friday afternoon, ahead of 25-year-old Kyle Larson by only .058 of a second.
This was Truex’s first pole of the 2018 season and the 16th of his career.
“We’ve qualified well here in the past, but we’ve kind of been searching for those last couple spots,” Truex said during a press conference earlier in the week. “We were fifth here in the fall and that was about all we can do. Just a good game plan and good execution by everybody. Definitely a fun day.”
During Sunday’s race at Phoenix, Truex and his team had to overcome a few obstacles in order to bring home a top-five finish. Some of the problems they had to deal with during the race was associated with the handling of the race car.
“On that one long run, we just got really tight and lost our track position,” Truex mentioned to a few reporters at the conclusion of the race. “We have a little work to do, but man, we’re right there.”
Despite Truex’s setback during the one long run, he managed to run in the top ten for the majority of the race. He finished fifth in the first stage and eighth during the second.
Truex snatched his third straight top-five finish of the season and moved up to second place in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points standings, tying Kyle Busch. He is only 12 points behind Kevin Harvick, who is the current leader after winning three consecutive races at Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.
You can see Truex back in action this Sunday, March 18 at Auto Club Speedway. The race begins at 3:30 PM ET and will be aired on FOX.
Follow and chat with me here: @nicholscarlie11
March 11, 2018
Martin Truex Jr. started the race weekend off on a high note by clinching the pole for the Ticket Guardian 500 at ISM Raceway. Truex flew around the one-mile Phoenix race track in 26.288 seconds (136.945 mph) on Friday afternoon, ahead of 25-year-old Kyle Larson by only .058 of a second.
This was Truex’s first pole of the 2018 season and the 16th of his career.
“We’ve qualified well here in the past, but we’ve kind of been searching for those last couple spots,” Truex said during a press conference earlier in the week. “We were fifth here in the fall and that was about all we can do. Just a good game plan and good execution by everybody. Definitely a fun day.”
During Sunday’s race at Phoenix, Truex and his team had to overcome a few obstacles in order to bring home a top-five finish. Some of the problems they had to deal with during the race was associated with the handling of the race car.
“On that one long run, we just got really tight and lost our track position,” Truex mentioned to a few reporters at the conclusion of the race. “We have a little work to do, but man, we’re right there.”
Despite Truex’s setback during the one long run, he managed to run in the top ten for the majority of the race. He finished fifth in the first stage and eighth during the second.
Truex snatched his third straight top-five finish of the season and moved up to second place in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points standings, tying Kyle Busch. He is only 12 points behind Kevin Harvick, who is the current leader after winning three consecutive races at Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.
You can see Truex back in action this Sunday, March 18 at Auto Club Speedway. The race begins at 3:30 PM ET and will be aired on FOX.
Follow and chat with me here: @nicholscarlie11
“Felt like we could have run second or third maybe, and one run we were as good as anyone. Couldn’t keep it perfect all day.” –@MartinTruex_Jr #WeAreFurnitureRow pic.twitter.com/ZsGC6VuMYO
— Furniture Row Racing (@FRRacingTeam) March 11, 2018
Atlanta Preview
February 23, 2018
After having an extremely successful Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season in 2017, 37-year-old Martin Truex Jr. is back in action at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend.
Truex, a Mayetta, New Jersey native, stated in an interview with NASCAR media officials that this weekend’s race at Atlanta will help him determine how competitive he will be in 2018. Last week, during the 60th running of the Daytona 500, Truex finished in the top 20 and was the second highest running Toyota in the field.
“After how we ran in Daytona, we are definitely looking forward to going to a downforce track,” said Truex in the same interview. “While Daytona is the biggest and most prestigious race to win, the season actually starts, at least in our case, at a downforce track. Atlanta should give us a good indication how we fare against the competition.”
For those of you who may not know a whole lot about Truex’s past, he is very competitive when he races on a 1.5-mile track. In the 2017 season alone, he had a total of eight wins and seven of them came from these types of tracks. Even though Truex has won a lot on 1.5-mile tracks, he still has not reached victory lane at two of them. One of those tracks happens to be Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Last season, Truex ended up finishing eighth during the spring race at Atlanta and had an average finish of 2.4 at all of the 1.5-mile tracks on the NASCAR circuit. Despite Truex’s success at Atlanta in 2017, he and his crew are having some major difficulties coming into this weekend’s race in 2018. On Friday, Feb. 23, Truex’s car failed inspection three times prior to the late afternoon qualifying session. The main issue here was that the rear toe and wheel were not aligned properly.
Since the new optical scanning station caught this major defect on Truex’s racecar three times, NASCAR decided to issue a few penalties to the no. 78 team. Car chief, Blake Harris, is suspended for the remainder of the weekend due to the ongoing inspection failures and Truex himself will face a 30-minute practice hold on Saturday afternoon.
Truex will start 35th in the 36-car field for Sunday’s MENCS Folds of Honor 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. You can watch this race on FOX at 2:00 PM ET.
Follow and chat with me here: @nicholscarlie11
February 23, 2018
After having an extremely successful Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season in 2017, 37-year-old Martin Truex Jr. is back in action at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend.
Truex, a Mayetta, New Jersey native, stated in an interview with NASCAR media officials that this weekend’s race at Atlanta will help him determine how competitive he will be in 2018. Last week, during the 60th running of the Daytona 500, Truex finished in the top 20 and was the second highest running Toyota in the field.
“After how we ran in Daytona, we are definitely looking forward to going to a downforce track,” said Truex in the same interview. “While Daytona is the biggest and most prestigious race to win, the season actually starts, at least in our case, at a downforce track. Atlanta should give us a good indication how we fare against the competition.”
For those of you who may not know a whole lot about Truex’s past, he is very competitive when he races on a 1.5-mile track. In the 2017 season alone, he had a total of eight wins and seven of them came from these types of tracks. Even though Truex has won a lot on 1.5-mile tracks, he still has not reached victory lane at two of them. One of those tracks happens to be Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Last season, Truex ended up finishing eighth during the spring race at Atlanta and had an average finish of 2.4 at all of the 1.5-mile tracks on the NASCAR circuit. Despite Truex’s success at Atlanta in 2017, he and his crew are having some major difficulties coming into this weekend’s race in 2018. On Friday, Feb. 23, Truex’s car failed inspection three times prior to the late afternoon qualifying session. The main issue here was that the rear toe and wheel were not aligned properly.
Since the new optical scanning station caught this major defect on Truex’s racecar three times, NASCAR decided to issue a few penalties to the no. 78 team. Car chief, Blake Harris, is suspended for the remainder of the weekend due to the ongoing inspection failures and Truex himself will face a 30-minute practice hold on Saturday afternoon.
Truex will start 35th in the 36-car field for Sunday’s MENCS Folds of Honor 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. You can watch this race on FOX at 2:00 PM ET.
Follow and chat with me here: @nicholscarlie11
Not how we wanted to end Friday. Furniture Row Racing didn’t pass inspection and ran out of time to make adjustments prior to the conclusion of the first round of qualifying. Official GM statement from Joe Garone coming up next. Stay tuned. #wearefurniturerow #martintruexjr pic.twitter.com/YR110irg20
— Furniture Row Racing (@FRRacingTeam) February 23, 2018
