CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Despite an accident on lap two of the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Martin Truex Jr. secured the 16th and final spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
The 2017 series champion will have his work cut out for him if he is to land a second title in his final season as a full-time racer aboard the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota.
Ryan Blaney won last year’s championship from the 12th spot and Truex believes it’s possible to win it from the 16th seed.
“It’s definitely possible. You win one race in the first two rounds, that’s a good chunk of points,” Truex said. “You know, the confidence and momentum that come with it, it’s totally doable. We’re going to have to win. I don’t think we’ll be able to point our way into the final four from where we’re at. We’re going to have to win some races.”
The 44-year-old New Jersey native believes competing in the playoffs is easier once a driver has a championship on the résumé.
“I think it makes it easier, I really do,” he said. “I don’t know if the other guys who have won it before feel the same, but you just feel less pressure. It’s so hard to win in this format. You can have a perfect season but run second at the last race and don’t win it. And that’s a lot. If you’ve never won a championship and you want to, you understand just how difficult that is at this sport, at this level.
“Everybody knows how hard it is to do. I think you’re just looser, more confident after you’ve done it as you’re like, ‘OK, at least I have one.’ It’s a different mindset. We were there five times in the final four, and just got one of them. Three of those times, we ran second. Two of those times, we dominated the race,” Truex noted. “Dominating doesn’t mean anything. (Kyle) Larson dominated Darlington the other night and finished fourth. And that’s the reality. You can dominate nine races, and you can be beat in the 10th and not be the champion. That’s it, it’s really hard to deal with and think about. So, once you have one, it’s a lot easier.”
Truex, who has 34 Cup Series victories to his credit, believes he can win any of the 10-playoff races despite having not won a race this season.
“I feel (we can win) at any given track, on any given weekend right now,” Truex said. “I know people probably think I’m crazy saying that because of how things have gone for us lately, but we’ve had the speed to win a lot of races this year and if we can do all the little things right, all the hard things to do right, we’ll have the speed to win.”