Truex keeps rolling, wins pole at Dover
Defending race winner bidding for sixth victory
DOVER, DEL. — Martin Truex Jr. has tried to enjoy his career year as much as he can. The veteran driver says he never knows when the run might end. He kept on rolling at Dover. Truex will try to win his sixth race of the season from the pole at Dover International Speedway in NASCAR’s third playoff race. Truex has been the driver to beat all season and he proved it again Friday, when he turned a lap of 160.664 mph to win his second pole of the season.
Truex had clinched a berth in the second round of the playoffs when he won at Chicagoland Speedway. He had the dominant car last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway until he was caught up in a wreck and finished fifth.
Truex has nine wins in the No. 77 Toyota at Furniture Row Racing over the last two years after winning just three times in his first 10 years. Oh, and Truex won this race last year.
“It takes so many things to come together to be in a position that I’ve been the last few years, really,” he said. “I’m very thankful, I’m definitely enjoying it. At the same time, there’s that chance of a championship out there. You can’t lose focus and say, this is going great, we’re going to show up to the track and everything’s going to be fine. You still have to work hard.”
Truex ended Kyle Busch’s bid at three straight poles. Busch started first in the first two playoff races and will start second on Sunday for the all-Toyota front row. He advanced to the second round when he won at New Hampshire.
“I’m glad for once we’re first and he’s not,” Truex said. “I’ve been second to him a lot, so it’s cool for us to get a pole.”
Playoff drivers Kyle Larson and Matt Kenseth start third and fourth. Seventime NASCARchampion Jimmie Johnson starts his run at his 12th Dover victory back in 17th.
“I know when it comes to race time, we Dover International Speedway Sunday, 2 p.m. TV: NBC Sports Network TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS Auto Martin Truex Jr. has won nine Cup Series races in the past two years after winning just three in the previous 10 years. will be fine here,” Johnson said.
Dover marks the first cutoff race and the playoff field will be sliced from 16 drivers to 12. Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne are the bottom four drivers in the playoff standings. Dillon starts 23rd, Newman is eighth, Busch, the Daytona 500 champion, starts 13th and Kahne is 21st.
“It’s going to be a race within the race,” Dillon said. “You’ve got to be smart throughout and make sure you’re there at the end and put yourself in good positions. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Other playoff drivers and starting spots are: Denny Hamlin starts sixth, Kevin Harvick ninth, Ryan Blaney 11th, Chase Elliott 12th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 15th, Brad Keselowski 16th, and Jamie McMurray is 26th.