Furniture Row Racing driver notches 4th straight top-10, moves to 3rd in driver points
AVONDALE, Ariz. (March 15, 2015) — Martin Truex Jr. set two team records as he once again showed his mettle with a come-from-behind seventh-place finish Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway.
Truex, behind the wheel of the No. 78 Chevrolet, became the first Furniture Row Racing driver to claim four consecutive top-10 finishes. His previous three results were eighth at Daytona, sixth at Atlanta and second at Las Vegas, giving him a 5.75 finishing average.
The four top-10 results to start the season have lifted Truex into third place in the Sprint Cup driver point standings, the highest-ever ranking for Furniture Row Racing, which is celebrating its 10th season in NASCAR. Truex is five points behind second place Joey Logano and 27 behind leader Kevin Harvick.
It was a roller coaster day for Truex, who started 15th and ran as high as second for 32 laps. But due to a couple of pit road issues, including damage to his car as he was exiting pit road following a Lap 227 caution, it appeared he was stuck in the high teens as the 312-lap race was winding down.
He was positioned in 19th-place when the second-to-last caution came out on Lap 290. Crew chief Cole Pearn opted to stay out and forego fresh tires. The decision resulted in Truex restarting the race from the ninth position.
“It was looking pretty grim there for a while,” said Truex. “But we never gave up and I drove my guts out. It was the pit call by Cole that got us back up front late in the race. We stayed out on that late race caution which got us back in the top-10. When it comes to pit calls Cole has been spot on and I am just going to do whatever he tells me to do. I believe in him that much. I felt like we had a better car than that (seventh), but with the circumstances today with 50 to go I felt there was no way we were going to finish in the top-20. To get a top-10 feels good.”
When making the call not to pit for tires Pearn felt the Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet had the strength to stay up front.
“I felt we underachieved today,” said Pearn. “I felt we were a second or third-place car. If we didn’t have the issues on pit road we would have been there. We just needed track position, and that’s why we stayed out. Martin passed a ton of cars and kept driving us back to the front. I am happy with his resolve and happy how the team recovered.”
The race winner was Kevin Harvick. Rounding out the top-10 in order were: Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Truex, Joey Logano, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Larson.
The race had eight lead changes among four drivers and there were 10 cautions for 53 laps.
The next Sprint Cup race is Sunday, March 22 in Fontana, Calif.
