[autotag]Martin Truex Jr.[/autotag] won the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship and while it didn’t end with a title, it was still a very successful year. Truex ended the season with three wins, nine top-5 finishes, and 17 top-10 finishes. Unfortunately for the driver of the No. 19 car, he failed to advance out of the Round of 8 at Martinsville Speedway.
Truex won at Dover Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This came after winning zero races and missing the playoffs in 2022. Truex closed out the 2023 campaign with 889 laps led (fourth best) and a 13.3 average finishing position (sixth best); however, why did he finish in 11th place in the point standings?
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
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver really struggled over the 10-race playoff. Truex only had three top-15 finishes and they all came in the last four races. He started out the playoffs with a best finish of 17th place through six events and was mired back in the point standings after being eliminated. It was a dreadful playoff run for the regular season champion for a second straight year.
Still, it was a bounce-back campaign for Truex overall. He failed to make the playoffs in 2022, and turning it around in the way he did was pretty impressive. Sure, Truex wishes he could have won his second Cup Series championship but it was positive to return to winning ways. Now, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver must knock off the end-of-the-year struggles.
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