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Martin Truex Jr. Gears Up for Pocono Showdown

Martin Truex Jr. is solely focused on excelling for his No. 19 team. (Photo: Kevin Ritchie | The Podium Finish)

Martin Truex Jr. is solely focused on excelling for his No. 19 team. (Photo: Kevin Ritchie | The Podium Finish)

Although Martin Truex Jr. may think of a Citizen King song with summing up his 2022 efforts, he remains confident about his championship chances.

The 41-year-old Mayetta, New Jersey native is qualified and reputable in terms of his stances as a NASCAR Cup Series icon. He’s endured through struggles, celebrated successes and remains the same, grounded driver since making his Cup debut in 2005.

As Truex considered the level of his fellow Cup competitors with the Next Gen car, he can’t help but notice the positives above all else.

“Well, I don’t see the problems with this car as an aggression of drivers thing,” Truex shared. “I don’t know how much more you can pick up aggression than what we’ve seen all year long, to be honest with you, if you look at the restarts and things. And honestly, if this car has done anything, it’s actually helped that because we can run side by side easier.

“It used to be you get inside a guy, you get loose because he takes air off of you. The side by side portion of this car is better than anything we’ve ever had. You can bury it off in underneath somebody. And if you’re not completely driving like an idiot, it’s gonna stick exactly the same as it did when there was not a car on your right side. So there’s opportunity there for us to actually race harder.”

While the new car has somewhat changed the game for Truex and his No. 19 DeWalt Toyota Camry team, he remains hopeful that it’s business as usual in the postseason.

“I can’t see it getting any more aggressive other than guys just completely wiping each other out,” he said. “That usually doesn’t happen in the Playoffs. But, it’s a whole new crop of drivers in the Playoffs. So you never know, I guess.”

One thing Truex knows is handling adversity. Despite ranking 16th in the provisional Playoff standings heading into Sunday’s M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono Raceway (3 p.m. ET on USA), he acknowledged the realities of competitive Cup racing and the state of his season.

“We haven’t won a race,” he recognized. So, we’re fourth in points (for the regular season. We have the most stage wins. It’s like we just haven’t figured out how to finish the last stage. I don’t know. It’s just one of them years where it’s like, whatever we do seems wrong. And I’ve been through this many times where you get on a stretch. Like you’re fast, you know you win. It’s coming at any point. But it’s like everything you do ends up being the wrong thing.

“That’s part of racing. Sometimes, things just don’t roll the way you need them to. And sometimes, you make bad decisions and they snowball. And I feel like we have a team to win. We’ve had cars to win, especially here lately, like I said.”

Perhaps Truex’s confidence stems with his uncanny ability to remain cool and serve as one of the team leaders alongside crew chief James Small. After all, worrying about intangibles that cannot be controlled seems unproductive, at least for the 2017 Cup champion.

Like a Jason Mraz song, Truex isn't worrying his life away when it comes to the 2022 season. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)

Like a Jason Mraz song, Truex isn’t worrying his life away when it comes to the 2022 season. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)

“There’s no reason panicking and losing your mind and going crazy about it,” he remarked. “It is what it is. You can’t change it. We got to go win a race or hope that there’s not another new winner, and we can keep getting good points.

“If we don’t make the Playoffs, I’m not gonna lose my job. I’ll be here next year. I’m not gonna lose my house. I’m still gonna be alive and happy and healthy. And you know, try to fix it, try to get better. But yeah, it’s not worth worrying about. Now, there’s too many things that are on the table that are unknown. There could be three more winners, new winners. You never know. You never know.”

Even champions like Truex are always on the move in terms of elevating his craft. It does not matter if he and his Joe Gibbs Racing team may have their backs against the wall with six regular season races remaining.

“100%, no question, I know where I’m at, I know what I’ve done,” Truex said. “I know I can do it. I know where our team’s at. We can win races and worrying about it’s not going to help us win races. Focusing in on what we need to be better at focusing on the job at hand is what we need to do to win races. I’ve been through this before. I’ve been sitting here.

“I’ve been in a position to win four or five races in a year and had zero. And it’s like, damn, I know, we can do it. We’ve just gotta get over that hump. So, if we can get over the hump, I feel like we can win. And we’re getting better. We’re hitting our stride at the right time.”

Likewise, Truex’s confidence may be attributed to he and his team’s knowledge and comfort with the Next Gen car. After 20 races with this latest Cup car, he’s enjoyed how the car has challenged him and his comrades.

“It’s a race car, you know? I mean, it’s had its challenges,” he said. “It’s been tough at certain tracks. We’ve not been good at certain tracks. So it’s just been a big learning curve. And then a lot of a lot of hard work. And a lot of just trying to figure things out and trying new things and kind of kind of winging it here and there. But driving wise, it’s been fun. It’s a hell of a challenge. And it’s been fun to race with an overall.”

Truex appreciates how the Next Gen car has presented its curveballs at the usual repertoire of Cup tracks. That being said, it may not be much of a difference at Pocono, particularly when it comes to shifting.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s changed things a lot at different tracks,” Truex observed. “Obviously, this is probably the most similar to what it’s ever been. We have always shifted here. But honestly, the sequential gearbox works really well. It seems to be bulletproof.

“So yeah, it’s just getting used to shifting at certain tracks where you’re braking and turning into the corner all at once. And you’re only driving with one hand. That’s kind of a little different for some places. That’s taking a little getting used to, but overall, it’s been fun.”

Like his teammate, Christopher Bell, the Garden State native hopes to earn his first Cup win of 2022. Ultimately, he’s not concerning himself with points watching.

“I don’t. I mean, we do the best we can every week and I look at points when we leave (the track),” he said.

Editor/Author’s Notes

Nathan Solomon contributed to this feature on-site from Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

Rob Tiongson is a 30-something motorsports journalist who enjoys sports like baseball, basketball, football, soccer, track and field and hockey. A Boston native turned Austinite, racing was the first sport that caught his eyes. From interviews to retrospective articles, if it's about anything with an engine and four wheels, it'll be here on TPF, by him or by one of his talented columnists who have a passion for racing. Currently seeking a sports writing, public relations, or sports marketing career, particularly in motorsports. He enjoys editing and writing articles and features, as well as photography. Moreover, he enjoys time with his family and friends, traveling, cooking, working out and being a fun uncle or "funcle" to his nephew, niece and cat. Tiongson, a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, pursues his Master of Arts in Digital Journalism at St. Bonaventure University. Indeed, while Tiongson is proud to be from Massachusetts, he's an everywhere kind of man residing in Texas.

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