NASCAR: Winners And Losers From Chicagoland
By Cole Mentzel
Winner: An Unlikely Star
We saw Martin Truex Jr. break out last season, but we never expected to see this in 2016.
Truex nearly won the Daytona 500, dominated the Coca-Cola 600 and made it to Victory Lane in the Southern 500 while leading 1,234 laps during the regular season. Then he steps right back into the Chase and wins the first race, already guaranteeing himself a spot in the Round of 12.
He used the speed in his Toyota to catch up to Chase Elliott late at Chicagoland. After his team got him out of the pits before the No. 24 car, he rolled to the outside and passed two cars on older tires after the restart in order to capture victory.
Truex now has three wins on the season–the same amount that he had from 2006 to 2015 combined.
Operating under a single-car team and having success like he has had is something you simply don’t see in NASCAR today, but Truex has tackled a tough set of circumstances and made a year of success out of what he has.
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While he still has a couple of more rounds to make it through before he reaches Homestead, you can’t deny the fact that Martin Truex Jr. is the favorite to win the championship right now.