Martin Truex Jr. has a chance to take all three races in the opening round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has scored back-to-back wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway to open the post-season schedule. He is already secure in the Round of 12 but can become the first driver in history to sweep the first round with a win in Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“I think we’re feeling good, you know,” Truex Jr. said when asked about his optimism for scoring a third straight win on Sunday. “The funny thing about our sport is every weekend is such a different challenge. You look at the last two weeks, nothing we really did prepares you for the Roval. We get a lot of curve balls thrown at us in this sport and that’s what makes it fun, that’s what it makes it a huge challenge, but as far as the team goes, I feel good about things and everybody is clicking.
“Everybody is working hard and looking for more all the time. I think our approach is good and we’ll just continue to take these things one at a time and do the best that we can do with it.”
Truex Jr. will start eighth on Sunday in a race that he nearly won a year ago if not for a last lap, final turn incident with Jimmie Johnson. The contact took both drivers out of contention for the victory and opened the door for third-place running Ryan Blaney to take the checkered flag.
There is a new wrinkle to this year’s Roval layout with a change to the backstretch chicane. Truex Jr. is a proponent of how the adjustment will change the racing for the better.
“I like that it’s an actual braking zone and it’s an actual – you slow down and you make a turn left, turn right, got to get the power down to leave there,” he explained. “It’s a lot more technical than what it was. Last year, it was just like a Hail Mary every time you went through there because really last year, all you would do is slow down just enough to get to third gear and you were right back in the throttle through that thing.
“It was pretty hairy as we’ve seen obviously and then with the wall coming out, we’ve seen the guys get their cars completely destroyed by making a little mistake. There’s a lot less on the line there now. If you miss the chicane, you can stop.”
What if the new chicane layout was in place last season?
“I probably would’ve just gotten hit one corner sooner I’m guessing,” Truex Jr. cracked.
