Dale Jarrett claims Martin Truex Jr. won’t make it to Championship fours, picks Brad Keselowski’s prodigy over him
Dale Jarrett picked two Chevy along with one driver each from Toyota and Ford in his final four.
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Martin Truex Jr., Dale Jarrett and Brad Keselowski (Via IMAGO)
NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarret, while predicting his championship four, has left regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr. out of the list. He believes the poor performance from the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran won’t end in the Roud of eight filled with short tracks, and he won’t claw his way out of the penultimate round as he did the last two times.
The 2017 NASCAR Cup champion is going through the worst streak of his career since 2013. From the six playoff races so far, his best finish has been a P17 and averaged a finish of 21. If not for the bonus points he scored, he would’ve been eliminated. His post-season rivals’ misfortune and the No:19 team scoring some much-needed playoff points also played a part.
Jarrett, while admitting that it is stupid to overlook the pedigree of Truex Jr., admitted that he has to go with the recent history and pick him as the driver who is on his way out. He pointed out that from his racing experience, he knows that it is hard to end a poor steak, and considering all the factors, the chance is very low for him to make it out.
He told NBC, “I’m putting history aside and going with recent history. I just think from my experience, when things start going bad you start pressing and then you start trying different things. Then all of a sudden you thought that you were out… And next thing you know you are outside the fence trying to find your way back in.”
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Dale Jarrett believes Chris Buescher will race for the title at Phoenix
The former champion had a surprising inclusion in his final four. He claimed that Hendrick Motorsport drivers Kyle Larson and Willaim Byron, the most in-form drivers at the moment, would make it. Denny Hamlin, the most consistent driver of the season, was his third pick. Jarrett added that RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher will make it to the last four as well.
Buescher, who drives for Brad Keselowski, out-performed his boss for a second straight season and has been among the top drivers in the latter half of the year. He has scored three wins so far this season and has been solid in most races. Jarrett sees it as enough for him to make it to the finale at Phoenix, where Joey Logano won the title for Ford in 2022.
“Well, the best season that he’s had. And I think that consistency at all types of tracks. Yes, the mile and a half’s definitely are not the very, very best for the Fords or for this organization. But I think that he can perform at a high enough level to put himself in a good position point-wise…So that’s just what I see that this young man ready to take hold of his future…as far as battling for a championship,” Jarrett said.
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Justin P Joy
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