DENVER (Oct. 29, 2014) – If there’s one thing that Martin Truex Jr. wants to achieve in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 Sprint Cup Series race it’s to see his mojo return after it took a two-week hiatus due to uncontrollable circumstances.
“We had something going for five straight races then came a superspeedway and a short track and we were bitten by each,” said Truex, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet. “We’re back competing at a mile-and-a-half track and that should play in our favor.”
Prior to the Sprint Cup Series races at Talladega Superspeedway and the Martinsville short track, Truex ranked sixth among all drivers during the first five races of the Chase. During this five-race period his average finish was 10.2, including a season best of fourth at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway.
Truex was running up front in Talladega, but a late hit and being trapped in traffic during the final two laps shoved him back to a 27th-place finish. At Martinsville, Truex ran as high as eighth, but got collected in a multicar accident, which put him out of the race with a 38th-place result.
“The past two weeks have been really tough on our Furniture Row team,” stated Truex. “At Talladega and Martinsville we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. We need to get our mojo back for the final three races of the season and Texas couldn’t come at a better time. I’ve had some success at Texas and feel that our Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet can run with the leaders.”
Truex knows very well what it’s like to lead a race at Texas Motor Speedway, located in Forth Worth. At the 2013 spring race, Truex led 142 laps and appeared to be headed to Victory Lane. But when the final caution came out for debris with 21 laps remaining, he lost the lead to Kyle Busch coming off pit road and had to settle for a runner-up finish.
“Texas is fast and you’re going to need speed there,” noted Truex. “I feel confident that we’ll have what is needed to run up front. We have three races remaining and for us it’s all about getting ready for 2015.”
Truex’s overall record at Texas is: 18 starts, two top-fives, eight top-10s and two poles. His starting average is 16.4 and finishing average is 15.2.
