Was there any doubt that Martin Truex Jr may be a driver of destiny in 2017? If there was, it was erased Sunday at Chicagoland. It would be something of a shock if Truex didn’t win it all.
Given the playoff format, that possibility isn’t remote. How do you fend off that scenario? You keep grinding every week. even when you don’t win, you’re contending. If you have a down day, you bounce back the following. This is what the 78 team of Martin Truex Jr is doing. You fend off any notion of a slump occurring, at least this season.
These kind of hot streaks don’t happen everyday. For one magical month, Harry Gant sent shockwaves through NASCAR Nation with a brilliant four race winning streak in September of 1991. Like this season’s front runner, Handsome Harry had more than his share of bad luck over the years, but that season, Gant had his season in the sun. No, he wouldn’t overcome Dale Earnhardt, but Gant more than earned 15 minutes of fame.
While one can’t say Martin Truex Jr is a stone cold lock, he is more than well-poised to hoist the Cup at Homestead. He and the 78 team are the total package. It’s not just the driving prowess of MT, it’s the symbiosis he enjoys with crew chief Cole Pearn, it’s the execution on pit road, and it’s the performance of the manufacturer. Toyota has come a long way since their days as a NASCAR punchline when they arrived on the scene in 2007.
Put simply, Martin Truex Jr has asserted himself as the driver to beat. There’s no talk of choke jobs, no talk of a red hot driver poised to overtake him, it’s all about a driver continuing on a trajectory that started about two seasons ago.
We’re not saying they can start engraving the trophy, but you can make sure they spell “Truex” right.
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