NASCAR’s “feel good” story of 2015 just wrapped up as I’m typing this: Martin Truex, Jr. has officially clinched his spot in the 2015 Sprint Cup Series Chase for the Championship. With his dominating effort at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, the driver of the #78 Chevrolet can now focus on what really matters, running for the series crown in NASCAR’s version of the playoffs. But does Truex have what it takes to compete against the “big boys” like Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick?
The (Brief) History of Furniture Row Racing
Before we dive into that, let’s look at the brief history of this #78 Furniture Row team. This is a single-car operation that didn’t run a full 36-race Sprint Cup schedule until the 2010 season. Regan Smith drove this car for most of the first three years, amassing one victory and eight total top 10 finishes in his 102 starts.
Kurt Busch took over for the final six races of 2012, posting three top 10s while getting ready for a full slate of events the next season. In 2013, Kurt notched eleven top 5s amid sixteen top 10s and finished 10th in the final points standings. It was—and still is—the best season Furniture Row Racing has ever had.
When he moved on to Stewart-Haas Racing before the 2014 season, that opened up the seat for Martin Truex, Jr. to take over, who was with Michael Waltrip Racing. Hopes were high for the Furniture Row team in 2014.
And that 2014 season was a disaster.
In the 36 races that make up a Sprint Cup season, Martin Truex, Jr. averaged a finish of right around 20th with just five top 10s and a lone top 5. However, near the end of 2014 was when we really started to see progress out of this organization, and Truex ended the year with six results of 14th or better over the final ten races—or, as NASCAR calls it, “The Chase.” As eluded to before, it’s stock car racing’s version of the playoffs.
Still, people were down on Truex.
Heading into the 2015 season, fantasy experts all around were down on Martin Truex, Jr. and the #78 team. FFToolbox had him ranked 22nd in their preseason rankings while Athlon Sports had him in the 21st spot in their annual preview magazine. I personally had him 23rd in my preseason rankings over at ifantasyrace.com. And then the 2015 Sprint Cup season started and it was clear from the get-go that almost everyone under-estimated this team. Big time.
Truex began 2015 with a solid 8th-place showing in the Daytona 500 and followed that up with a 6th-place run at Atlanta. The third race on the schedule was Las Vegas and Martin damn near won that event, coming home 2nd to race-winner Kevin Harvick. That’s where the NASCAR world started taking notice of this #78 team. And for those that weren’t paying attention, they were after Texas in mid-April, which was when the NASCAR 2015 season had seven races finished and Truex just posted his worst result of the year…9th.
Flash forward to today and the #78 team is celebrating as I type this. Truex just dominated the Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 at Pocono Raceway and broke his winless streak of nearly 70 races. In reality, however, Martin should have visited victory lane by now. Over the last four Sprint Cup races—Kansas, Charlotte, Dover, and Pocono—the #78 Chevrolet has arguably been the best car week in and week out. Truex led the most laps in all four of those races but always had something happen that kept him from victory lane…until Pocono. And now comes the big question…
Can Truex Compete for This Year’s Championship?
In short, yes. We’ve seen drivers get off to hot starts at the beginning of a season only to fade out as the year progresses. But let me tell you this: 13 finishes inside the top 10 through the first 14 races isn’t a fluke. That’s the sign of a great team and one that is hitting on all cylinders. The only driver that has scored more Sprint Cup points that Truex this year is Kevin Harvick, and he’s having a season that might go down in history as one of the best ever.
Winning means a lot in NASCAR now with the new format of their “Chase,” and Martin Truex, Jr. just showed that he and his #78 team are able to close the deal. And if they’re not? Consistency doesn’t hurt either. Hell, Ryan Newman almost won the 2014 Sprint Cup Championship (he finished 2nd) and he didn’t win a single race all year. Truex and this #78 team have finally broke through and punched their ticket to this year’s playoffs. Now they can experiment with setups and really focus on the last ten races of the season. I know we say that Truex is the most unlucky guy in the garage, but it sure seems like things are looking up for him now, doesn’t it?
And let’s not forget that Homestead-Miami Speedway is Truex’s best track on the circuit. That’s also the place where NASCAR will crown it’s 2015 champion, and that will be decided by the highest finishing Chaser that is still remaining the final playoff round.
