By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor
JOLIET, Ill. — Martin Truex Jr. wouldn’t be upset if the four dominant Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers thus far were the four to qualify for the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway – he is one of the quartet, after all.
But while the New Jersey native is confident of each team’s chances, he wouldn’t dare claim that they’re all locks to sail through the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs this fall.
“If you look at the past few years, it seems like the strong teams have been able to keep their edge,” Truex said in a Chicagoland Speedway media availability. “That doesn’t guarantee anything I don’t think.
“I think you never know,” he later continued. “It’s way too early to start giving away four spots in the final four and giving championship favorites. We got 10 more races until the Playoffs and a lot can happen in that amount of time.”
In the midst of his 2017 championship defense, Truex has been one of four Cup drivers that have combined to win 14 of the opening 16 races of the 2018 season. Kevin Harvick has won a series-high five races, with points leader Kyle Busch second on the wins list with four victories. Clint Bowyer has two wins of his own after ending a streak of five winless seasons at Martinsville Speedway in the spring.
Truex is only fifth in the championship standings, but he sits third on the wins list heading into Chicagoland Speedway – where he’s won in each of the past two seasons – after claiming his third victory of the year in the previous race at Sonoma Raceway.
With the modern NASCAR point system’s emphasis on winning and securing playoff points, the 37-year-old’s multiple victories and 18 guaranteed playoff points would place him third in the standings if the postseason were to begin immediately.
The combined dominance of the Ford and Toyota duos have been unexpected, even for one of the drivers completing the feat each weekend.
“You think about the rules today and how strictly enforced everything is – just how tight everything is and the box we have to work in,” Truex said. “And the fact that for more or less four teams have been able to find an advantage consistently is hard to believe.
“It’s hard to believe that four teams can do that. I am little bit surprised. I know he (Kevin Harvick) is not. There are so many great, talented people in the garage between drivers, crew chiefs, engineers. To find that edge is so difficult to do. Hats off to those teams for sure.”
This level of success isn’t new for Truex. In fact he accomplished a similar feat just last year, earning 54 playoff points with eight wins in 36 races as he stormed off to his first Cup championship.
But Truex also knows that early-season storylines don’t always translate to the rest of the year. Five of his eight wins in 2017 came in the final four months of the season, as did all five of championship runner-up Busch’s triumphs.
Chevrolet has been struggling thus far, but they could turn things around in the second half of the year. Team Penske or Hendrick Motorsports could find speed, and other teams at Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing could trend in the right direction.
“I think things are changing,” he said. “Certainly the Chevrolet’s have gotten a new body this year and are a little slower out of the gate than they would have hoped. I am sure they will find things that help them. We have other great team combinations that maybe haven’t hit yet.”
So while he’s in a good place at the moment, Truex isn’t getting complacent just yet. The veteran intends to keep shooting for wins and trying to score playoff points as the postseason draws near, all with the intent of plotting a stress-free course through the playoffs.
“Being able to race relaxed is always easier and having playoff points and bonus points when the playoffs start is big for that,” he said. “I know last year we really didn’t have many concerns the first two rounds, as long as we didn’t have any major malfunctions, we’re going to be okay and it just makes it a little bit easier to do your job and not worry about things that can happen like what happened to us in 2016.”