Truex, team working hard to stay on top
Five takeaways from Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Charlotte Motor Speedway as teams prepare for one of the season’s most unpredictable races — this weekend’s second visit of the year to Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
Departin’ Martin: As if Martin Truex Jr.’s sixth win of the year wasn’t demoralizing enough for those chasing him in the playoffs, the manner in which it was achieved makes the Furniture Row Racing team look even stronger.
Truex qualified a sour 17th Friday, a circumstance that irritated the driver and his crew chief, Cole Pearn. Truex said he had no chance to win the race as the field rolled off to start what became a grueling, heat-heavy 500-mile run.
But changes made his car stronger in the last stage of the race, and Truex made fans forget about the strength Kevin Harvick had shown in winning the first two stages. Truex’s pit crew performed flawlessly on a day when other playoff crews stumbled.
Truex’s qualifying run was his worst in 13 races, but Sunday’s win marked his first of the season starting lower than third.
“We didn’t pass the leader on the racetrack,” Truex said. “We passed him on pit road. Once we got that, that was the big advantage — to be the leader.”
He won in overtime by almost a second over Chase Elliott, but it wasn’t really that close.
There is no debate that Truex is the top gun as the playoffs move into their middle weeks. The pretenders made some noise Sunday, but he ultimately made them irrelevant.
Talladega calling: The 12 drivers remaining in the playoffs haven’t exactly brought Talladega Superspeedway to its knees.
Brad Keselowski is the only driver in the dozen with more than two wins at NASCAR’s biggest oval. He has four.
Kyle Larson, Elliott and Ryan Blaney are winless at the track (Elliott is winless everywhere), as is playoff leader Truex, who, after securing a berth in the final eight with his victory at Charlotte, can turn Talladega into a pleasant Sunday afternoon drive with no stress if he chooses.
Busched: Sunday was a day Kyle Busch hopes to forget soon. On one of the most challenging afternoons of his career, Busch slammed into the outside wall repeatedly, caused three caution periods, finished 29th and needed immediate medical attention postrace for heat exhaustion and high carbon monoxide levels.
Despite scoring wins in two of the three races in the first round of the playoffs, Busch now is in a no man’s land of sorts. He’s in sixth place in the 12-driver points standings, but he’s only 12 points in front of the cutoff line for advancement to the next round.
A crash or other bad circumstances at Talladega could put Busch in big trouble.
“It stinks to give up points,” Busch said. “We come in here and thought we had a good shot to run in the top 10, and we did and I threw it away. We’re still above the cut line, but we don’t have that cushion that we’d like to have going to Talladega.”
Fords need boost:
Toyota has won all four playoff races. On the other end of the scale, Ford is hurting.
Blue Oval drivers Keselowski, Blaney and Ricky Stenouse Jr. are in the bottom three positions in the 12-driver playoff field. Harvick, in third, is the only Ford driver sitting comfortably.
Stenhouse has won two of the three restrictor-plate races this season (Talladega spring race and Coke Zero 400 at Daytona Internatoinal Speedway), however, and Ford’s Kurt Busch won the other, the season-opening Daytona 500.
Staying cool:
Kyle Busch’s problems with heat after crush panels in his car were smashed made for a dramatic scene postrace as the driver rested on the ground near pit road while medical workers assisted him.
Other drivers, including Denny Hamlin, also were slapped hard by humidity levels that were unusual for October in Charlotte.
Pearn, who lives near Denver, where the Furniture Row Racing team is located, said Truex looked “whipped” after the race and added it also was hot and humid atop the team’s pit wagon.
“I know I was sweating my butt off up there,” he said. “I was reminded of how happy I am to live in Colorado.”