[autotag]Martin Truex Jr.[/autotag] enters the final race of the Round of 16 at Bristol Motor Speedway with a seven-point deficit to the playoff cut-line. This is not something that many could have predicted a few weeks ago; however, this is now Truex’s reality for the next few days. So, let’s evaluate Truex’s chances of advancing to the Round of 12 at Bristol.
The past statistics at Bristol do not work in Truex’s favor. With Joe Gibbs Racing, the driver of the No. 19 car has a best finish of seventh place and only two top-10 finishes in seven races. Over that same period of time, Truex ranks as the 16th-highest driver in terms of earned points, which does not bode well for his chances on Saturday night.
In fact, Truex has only earned 14 stage points in seven races at Bristol. This includes only 57 led laps with 52 of those laps coming in the night race in 2019. Needless to say, Truex will need to have a significant uptick in performance if he wants to make it on points alone. However, this is not the only factor for Truex as other playoff drivers can struggle too.
A dominating day for MTJ. Retweet to congratulate Martin Truex Jr. on his WIN at New Hampshire Motor Speedway! pic.twitter.com/Rh2oBJmA51
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) July 17, 2023
For drivers above Truex on the playoff cut-line, this is how they are ranked in terms of total points earned in the last seven races at Bristol. Harvick is third, Logano is sixth, Buescher is 12th, Bell is 18th, and Chastain is 24th. Granted, Bell and Chastain, the two drivers lower than Truex, have competed in less than seven races and they haven’t all been in quality equipment
Truthfully, Bristol is not one of Truex’s best tracks and that is something that he admitted this week. It is going to take a major increase in performance or trouble from other playoff drivers to make sure he makes the Round of 12. If not, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver will be facing the wrong side of history as the 2023 NASCAR regular season champion.
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