NASCAR: Will Martin Truex Jr. win his third consecutive Kentucky race?
By Asher Fair
Martin Truex Jr. has won both of the last two NASCAR Cup Series races at Kentucky Speedway. Will he make it three in a row this weekend?
Furniture Row Racing’s (now Joe Gibbs Racing’s) Martin Truex Jr. has won both of the last two NASCAR Cup Series races at Kentucky Speedway, meaning that he is set to go for his third consecutive victory at the track in this Saturday night’s race, the Quaker State 400.
The last race at the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Kentucky Speedway oval in Sparta, Kentucky that was won by a driver other than Truex Jr. was held in July of 2016, as there is only one race held at the track each season. This race was won by Team Penske’s Brad Keselowki. Truex Jr., meanwhile, finished it in 10th place in his #78 Toyota.
In the 2017 Quaker State 400, Truex Jr. started in second place behind Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, and Truex Jr. and Busch ended up being the drivers who battled for the race lead throughout much of the 274-lap race. They combined to lead 264 of its laps, with Truex Jr. leading 152 of them and Busch leading 112 of them.
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Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Hendrick Motorsports’ Dale Earnhardt Jr. combined to lead the race’s other 10 laps, with Logano leading seven of them and Earnhardt Jr. leading three of them. The race featured a total of nine lead changes.
Following a late restart, however, Busch fell back to fifth place. A crash on the race’s final lap caused the race to end under caution. Truex Jr. ended up leading Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin across the finish line in second, third and fourth, respectively.
In the 2018 Quaker State 400, Truex Jr. started from the pole position and dominated the race by leading 174 of its 267 laps. Five other drivers combined to lead the other 93 laps, and the race featured a total of 14 lead changes.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kurt Busch led 45 laps while Team Penske teammates Keselowski, Logano and Ryan Blaney led 38 laps, five laps and one lap, respectively, and Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman led three laps and one lap, respectively. Truex Jr. ended up winning the race by 1.901 seconds over Blaney in second place.
Will Truex Jr. earn his third consecutive victory at Kentucky Speedway and his first as the driver of the #19 Toyota in this Saturday night’s race, or will a driver other than Truex Jr. find victory at the track for the first time since Keselowski did so in July of 2016?
While Truex Jr. entered the race at Kentucky Speedway in the 2017 season having never won a race at the track in six prior attempts, the fact that he won that race before taking the pole position for and dominating the race at the track last season makes him the favorite to return to victory lane there for the third consecutive season this weekend. He is the driver to beat here.
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Will Martin Truex Jr. earn his third consecutive victory in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway by winning the race at the track this weekend? This race, the Quaker State 400, is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 13, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.