Time is running out for Martin Truex Jr. to deliver, and ‘home track’ Dover is the right place to do so
Martin Truex Jr.’s last point-paying race win came on September 11, 2021, at Richmond Raceway.
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Martin Truex Jr. (Credits: @JGR/Twitter)
Martin Truex Jr. is once again found himself where he is desperate for a win. The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran was winless thought the 2022 season, though he was one of the most consistent and is yet to score a point-paying race win. He broke his winless streak with an unofficial season opener, Clash at the Colosseum, win. But the bad luck doesn’t seem to get off of the No:19 crew, as faulty executions cost them the opportunity to score wins in a handful of races so far.
He hopes to change all this going in the Monster Mile of Dover. The 1-mile concrete oval is near his hometown of Mayetta, making it his home track. He is the winningest driver at Dover with three wins and shares the record with former teammate Kyle Busch. He also has the joint most pole wins among active drivers and has scored nine top-five finishes and 18 top-10s from 32 starts there.
Dover is one of the five tracks where he has three wins. Richmond, Martinsville, ROVAL, and Sonama are the other tracks. The first two tracks have already hosted their regular season race, and Truex Jr. has missed his best opportunities there. The coming three, especially Dover, offer him the best shot at playoffs.
“I view Dover as my hometown track; it’s closest to home. If you could drive across the bay, it would be really close. It’s close to home, for sure. I’ve been going there a long time, and it’s a place that means a lot to me, starting early in my Busch Series career, and doing some racing there in my dad’s car, and my first Cup win there, as well,” Truex Jr. said about
“We’ve had a lot of success there, too. It’s a special place for me, and I love going there, it feels like home. We have a lot of friends and family who go to that race, as well, and hoping we can get them a win with our Bass Pro Shops Camry,” Truex Jr. added.
Martin Truex Jr. knows what he has to do in Dover
The No:19 Toyota Camry driver pointed out that he has to have solid qualifiers to secure a good pit stall so that they will have a smooth day. He added that the struggles of passing the Next-Gen car and factoring in the track’s character make the track position very important.
“Just build on what we learned last year, and I think it’s important we qualify well, so hopefully we do that. Generally, when you qualify well there, you get a good pit stall, and it sets you up for a smoother day. Staying out front all day long is very important, and track position is very important since it’s hard to pass,” Martin Truex Jr. said.
“It’s a very fast track, and you want to keep your track position. Hopefully, we can qualify well, and it can set us up for a really good day. Corner speeds are so high at Dover that it does become hard to pass. But we’ve also had years where it’s been hard to pass, and we’ve driven through the whole field there, like in 2019. You’ve got to get your car dialed in the right, and if you can do that, you can do pretty much what you want with it,” Martin Truex Jr. added.
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