Truex Tries to Dig into Points Gap at Kentucky

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Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota, talks with a crew member during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway on July 7, 2017 in Sparta, Kentucky. Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

A 1.5-mile track is coming at the perfect time for Martin Truex Jr.

After reeling off five consecutive top-six finishes, Truex has produced showings of 37th and 34th in his last two races. Still, he ranks second in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings, only 18 points behind Kyle Larson.

Leading the series with a 4.2 average finish at 1.5-mile tracks this season – including wins at Las Vegas and Kansas – Truex will try to triumph at 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway in Saturday’s Quaker State 400.

“We’ve hit an unlucky streak the past two weeks and that’s going to happen in a 36-race schedule,” Truex said. “But we’re feeling good about Kentucky. We sure like the mile-and-a-half tracks and I felt we had a good chance of winning there last year. But a controversial call for a pit road violation knocked us out of contention.”

NASCAR’s stage racing enhancements have treated Truex well. He leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with 11 stage wins and 21 playoff points. Statistically, Truex has outperformed Larson this season. He paces the series in average running position (8.7), driver rating (109.1), laps led (963) and fastest laps (542).

In six career starts at Kentucky, Truex claims three top-ten finishes. He led 46 laps and finished tenth in last year’s race.

“I have some good runs at Kentucky Speedway,” said Truex, who has two wins, five top-five and 11 top-10 finishes this season. “Like any racetrack, you have to find the right balance for all four turns and Kentucky has some unique corners. But with our past history at the mile-and-a-half tracks I am confident that (Crew Chief) Cole (Pearn) and his engineering team will once again figure it out.”

Watch the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday, July 8th at 7:30 pm ET on NBC Sports Network.