Martin Truex Jr. is looking to shake off two straight weeks of disappointment with a good run in Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway.
The defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion came home last two weeks ago in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. His follow-up performance on Monday in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway wasn’t much better when a Lap 3 accident led to a miserable 30th-place finish.
“Not much to say, just one of those weekends you want to forget about and turn your focus 100 percent on the next race,” Truex Jr. said.
But now it’s on to Richmond where Truex Jr. will make his 450th career Cup Series start on Saturday night. He ran nine Cup races before joining NASCAR’s top series full time in 2006.
“That’s crazy how time flies,” Truex Jr. said. “Just seems like yesterday we were making preparations to run our first Cup races.
“I feel fortunate to be competing at the highest level of stock car racing, thanks to everyone who has helped and supported my career along the way. I am still having plenty of fun and feel I have more good years left in me.”
Truex Jr. continues to chase his first career Cup short-track win. He came close to being triumphant at Richmond last September until a late race caution and subsequent accident on the restart took him from contention.
“We were the class of the field last fall in Richmond,” said Truex, who led a race high of 198 laps. “That caution was sure costly, and then we got beat out of the pits on that final stop. Our car was never good on restarts all night long so we were kind of a sitting duck.”
But of the three short tracks on the Cup schedule, Truex Jr. ranks Richmond ahead of both Martinsville and Bristol as his favorite.
“Richmond is definitely a tough track,” Truex said. “But at the same time it’s at the top of my list for short tracks probably because I have had more success there than at the other short tracks. I guess I just figured out Richmond earlier and that’s why I feel comfortable racing there. It’s kind of like the short tracks I grew up on.”
He’ll make his 25th career Richmond Cup start on Saturday and a trip to Victory Lane would cure a lot of what’s been ailing Truex Jr. in recent weeks.
“After what we have gone through the past two weeks, a Richmond redemption would give us a big lift,” Truex Jr. said.
