“Our race went haywire from there”: Martin Truex Jr. hoping for better luck at Richmond amid winless final season in NASCAR

Martin Truex Jr. was on track to win the spring race at Richmond Raceway when his luck flipped on a dime. But this time around, he’s gunning for a win to secure his spot in the playoffs during his final season in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Initially ranking in the top 5 during the start of the regular season, Martin Truex Jr. has since slipped to seventh place. Despite scoring four top-5 finishes and nine top-10s, he’s recently felt underwhelmed by his own results. Following back-to-back top-5 finishes at Dover and Kansas in May, Truex hasn’t managed to crack the top-5 again, with his best finish being eighth at Pocono.

Yet, with Richmond Raceway on the horizon, where he last clocked in at fourth in April, Truex Jr. noted [via Motorsport]:

"We had such a dominant run there in the spring and the caution came out and our race went haywire from there. Would like to get back out front and stay there on Sunday. [...] It’s been a great track and it’s a ton of fun. We had a great run going there in the spring and thought we had a shot at winning, then we were down a set of tires, and the cautions didn’t go our way."

According to Martin Truex Jr., his team has stepped up their game, especially at short tracks and venues like Richmond. He said:

"I hope for myself and my team we can get back in Victory Lane there like we’ve done before."

Martin Truex Jr., sporting an average finish of 15.0, has racked up three wins in his last 11 races at Richmond Raceway, with his latest victory coming in September 2021. He's also finished 10 races in top-five and 18 in top-10. On the racetrack, he has led 1,587 laps, the highest number he’s led at any active track on the Cup schedule.

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Martin Truex Jr. has hit a rough patch in his recent performances

In the last ten races of the regular season, Martin Truex Jr. has managed to finish in the top 10 only twice and in the top 20 twice more. The remaining six races saw him finishing beyond 20th place. Ahead of the Pocono race, Truex discussed the downturn, saying:

"It’s been a tough month-and-a-half, finish-wise. Speed-wise, aside from maybe last week and Iowa, we’ve been solid. Just need to capitalize on that and execute. It takes a lot of things to win races, lead laps, stay up front and have fast cars, so hope we can put it all together this weekend. But I feel good about it. Yeah, just kind of been in a slump for a little while now." [at 4:26]

With only four races left until the playoffs, two of which are at tracks where Martin Truex Jr. has historically performed well [Richmond, Michigan], it will be interesting to see if he can turn things around and make a strong push for the playoffs.