Martin Truex Jr. confers with his No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry team. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – After ending a 54-race winless streak following Monday’s Würth 400 at Dover, Martin Truex Jr. turns his attention on Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET on FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Certainly, the 1.5-mile speedway has been a respectable one for the 42-year-old Mayetta, New Jersey native with his 2017 season sweep, 10 top fives and 16 top 10s in his past 29 starts. With an average finish of 12.2, the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion is fourth best in this category among active drivers.
It is safe to say that Truex, recently named one of the 75 Greatest Drivers in NASCAR, knows his way around Kansas. In particular, it seems to be a track that embraces drivers with its unique banking and passing opportunities.
If that sounds familiar, it should because Truex noted how Kansas is a lot like its Southern Florida counterpart.
“I would say Kansas is a lot like Homestead but with a tri-oval,” Truex said in a team press release. “Similar corners and little bit of progressive banking. The wall has really come into play the last couple of years there since the asphalt has worn out. So, running high is very important there, and also momentum is very important at Kansas.
“You have a big, wide front straightaway that gives you the option to make big bold moves on the restarts where it can get pretty wild there. Kansas is definitely high on my list of places I like to race and we are hoping for a great weekend there with our Reser’s Fine Foods Camry.”
Although Truex ranked 20th in Saturday’s sole practice session, he was the fifth quickest in the 10 consecutive lap average charts. Suffice to say, he and crew chief James Small have another strong No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry prepared at the Joe Gibbs Racing shop.
Moreover, he qualified fourth, a promising development considering how 50% of this race’s past winners have started inside the top five. Likewise, 75% of the race’s winners have a starting position inside the top 10.
Truex leans on his experiences given the reduced weekend schedule. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)
Surely, drivers like Truex may not pay a great deal of attention to statistics. Still, a starting position toward the front of the field means increasing likelihood of enjoying clean air while locking down a solid pit stall.
Aside from the particulars of a great qualifying effort, Truex finally snapped a frustrating winless drought. Steady and consistent last year and throughout the dry spell, the future NASCAR Hall of Famer showcased that he has not lost a step in his game as a passionate, determined racer.
Those intangibles and his experiences may pay dividends at Kansas and today’s flashier, on the run like stock car industry with a compacted schedule.
If that says anything about Truex and his No. 19 team for this and any race day, it is fair to say that it would be foolish to dismiss him from contention from just about any track, especially this popular stop in the Midwest.
“I feel like the schedule nowadays is all over the place with all the road courses we have, it’s just that every week is so different and you have to do your homework and study and think back to last year and past races just to remind ourselves,” he said. “We have really short practices now, so you don’t get a lot of time to get dialed in and get comfortable, and not getting in that rhythm and just getting the car dialed in.
“We don’t have a lot of time and we need to show up and be ready to go. For the most part, I’ve been doing to these tracks for quite a while now and you lean on that past experience a lot.”
