Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Truex with head start for playoffs
Martin Truex Jr. has done everything possible to position himself for his first Cup title — four victories and the regular-season championship — that he heads into NASCAR’s Monster Energy Cup playoffs with a healthy advantage over his competition.
Truex has collected nearly five dozen bonus points for winning races, winning stages during the races and winning the regular-season title (15 points). All those points will carry with him into the 10-race playoffs, which start Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.
The bonus points introduced by NASCAR this season could play heavily into Truex’s march toward the Nov. 19 championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Only four drivers will race for the title that day, as the 16-driver playoff field will be whittled down through eliminations.
Truex seemed to be a slam-dunk for the title last year after winning two of the first three playoff races in his Furniture Row Racing entry. But he was hit with issues in the second round and stunningly eliminated.
Bonus points this year could be what keeps Truex in contention.
“I am really proud of everybody on this team for an amazing season so far,” Truex said. “Don’t expect this Furniture Row Racing team to let up. Momentum is important as we head into the playoffs. You can’t turn it off and on.”
But the field is stacked and features a mix of varying challengers.
There’s seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who would like to collect that eighth Cup to grab hold of the all-time record. His seven titles have him tied with Hall of Famers Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt.
Kyle Larson has been the most electrifying driver this season. He won three races and challenged Truex most of the regular season for the top seed in the playoffs. He’s only been in the playoffs once before — last year when he was eliminated in the first round — so if he can advance this season he could wind up a contender in the championship race.
Truex also will contend with Joe Gibbs Racing, the sister team to his Furniture
Row Racing. Gibbs last won a title two years ago with Kyle Busch, and it took him most of the season to collect the win he needed to ensure a spot in the playoffs.
Same for Denny Hamlin, but he’ll have to start the playoffs without his crew
chief. Mike Wheeler was suspended two races because Hamlin’s winning car at Darlington was illegal.
The field this year includes a few newcomers, including Ryan Blaney. A Team Penske driver who qualified for the playoffs driving for The Wood Brothers, he’s giving one of NASCAR’s oldest teams its first shot at racing for the title in decades.
Roush Fenway Racing will be represented by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who is in the playoffs for the first time. He used a pair of victories at restrictor-plate tracks to get into the playoffs, but he knows his program may not be capable of competing across the entire 10-race playoff schedule.
Stewart-Haas Racing is represented by former champions Kevin Harvick, winner of the first elimination-format playoffs, and Daytona 500 winner Kurt Busch. But Busch has only been mediocre all season, Harvick hasn’t matched well against Truex and Larson, and the team could find itself shut out of the playoffs earlier than expected this season.