Cup Series heads to Texas with a logjam at top
Truex Jr. seeking 2nd points crown
FORT WORTH — Martin Truex Jr. remembers the hours of boredom last October watching television and the rain in Texas, then coming so close to another championship chance when that playoff race last fall finally ended three days after it began.
The forecast is much better this time, both weather-wise and for Truex’s playoff push, though things are tight and there are some changes in Texas.
Instead of its traditional slot as the middle race in the round of eight, Texas on Sunday kicks off the round with Kansas and Martinsville to follow. The field will be cut from eight to finally four in the championship race at Phoenix next month.
“The round of eight is really as tough as it gets,” said Truex, the 2017 Cup champ who finished second in both 2018 and 2019. “All three races are equally as important. So it really doesn’t matter, you know, where they lie. Obviously the ultimate way to go about this is just go win the first one. But there’s a lot of guys with that in mind as well.”
Kyle Larson, who won the NASCAR All-Star race at Texas four months ago, is the points leader and the Hendrick Motorsports driver has a significant edge over Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Truex. But only eight points separate second-place Hamlin and defending champion Chase Elliott in sixth place.
Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch round out the top five. Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, 16 points below the cutline, are the other drivers still in the playoffs.
Truex desperately needed a win last fall at Texas, where he was seventh in the standings and then forced to start at the back of the field because of an illegal spoiler. He led 53 laps before a runner-up finish, but failed to improve on seventh in the standings and was eliminated from title contention the next week.
“The race went really well. We were really strong and, you know, we were really one lap away from I think the 18 (Busch) running out of gas and us closing in for the win,” Truex said. “So it was definitely close. … Second is pretty good, but it’s not what we’re after. So try to win it this year, hopefully.”
Busch is one point out of fourth place going to Texas, where his only win all last season came in that Wednesday finish after he had already been eliminated from possibly defending his 2019 Cup title.
While Busch felt bad about denying his teammate a spot in the championship finale, the win extended Busch’s streak to at least one victory in 16 consecutive seasons. He’s won twice already this season to extend a streak that now stretches one year shy of Richard Petty’s record 18 consecutive seasons with a win set from 1960 through 1977.
A four-time winner at Texas, Busch will be without crew chief Ben Beshore following Beshore’s suspension for loose lug nuts on the No. 18 Toyota after last week’s roadcourse race in Charlotte. Busch has two wins each at Kansas, including in May, and at Martinsville.
XFINITY: All four spots in the championship round of the Series are still up for grabs after non-playoff qualifier John Hunter Nemechek overcame a late penalty Saturday to win at Texas Motor Speedway.
Nemechek won the first of three races in the round of eight, leaving the playoff drivers with two more chances in the semifinals, at Kansas and Martinsville, to qualify for the championship finale in Phoenix.
Daniel Hemric led seven of the eight playoff qualifiers across the finish line after Nemechek, taking second in the 117th race of his career without a victory. Noah Gragson was third, followed by Justin Allgaier and Austin Cindric.