NASCAR: Five Lessons Learned From the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas

The 78 Team Still Has Issues

Martin Truex Jr. and the 78 team may have won two races in the Round of 16, but besides for helping them advance to the Round of 12, those wins won’t get them far in the rest of the Chase.

Truex is undoubtedly one of the top drivers in the Chase, but at Kansas NASCAR fans were reminded of some of the struggles that plagued the 78 team during the regular season.

After having a fast car to start off the race, the 78 team would run into an issue of pit road and Truex would not get as much fuel as he could into his car.

He had to come in for an unscheduled pit stop to get more fuel, but was able to catch a break during a caution which helped him get back on the lead lap.

These types of problems are what plagued the 78 team during the regular season and were the biggest issues facing Truex as he continued to try and win races. They were lucky at Kansas with the caution coming out when they needed it to, but after seeing how dominant this team was in the Round of 16, they look just as vulnerable as the other Chase teams still looking to win their way into the Round of 8.

He’s a couple spots above the Chase cutoff line right now, but with how crazy Talladega can be Truex and the 78 team would rather be one of the two teams advancing because of a win. Mistakes at Talladega next weekend could cost this team a chance to compete for the championship at Homestead.

With how strong he’s been running, Kansas was just a little reminder of the issues Martin Truex Jr. was battling in the regular season to try and win races. Mistakes on pit road cost this team victories earlier in the year, and these same type of mistakes could cost them a championship.