Martin Truex Jr.’s outlook for the Round of 12 during 2023 NASCAR season

Evaluating Martin Truex Jr.’s chances of advancing out of the Round of 12 in the 2023 NASCAR playoffs.

[autotag]Martin Truex Jr.[/autotag] faced the wrong side of history in the Round of 16 as he entered the final race below the playoff cut-line. Truex would have been the first regular season champion to be eliminated in the first round but barely advanced with finishes of 18th place at Darlington Raceway, 36th place at Kansas Speedway, and 19th place at Bristol Motor Speedway.

It was a downright horrible Round of 16 for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver but thanks to the playoff points he earned during the 2023 season, it was enough to give him another chance. So, how does the Round of 12 stack up for Truex as he tries to claim his second NASCAR Cup Series title? Let’s take a look at what tracks are coming up over the next three races.

The driver of the No. 19 car will take a 25-point advantage to the playoff cut-line and head to Texas Motor Speedway, which hasn’t produced great finishes with Joe Gibbs Racing. In Truex’s last six starts, he only has two top-10 finishes at the venue due to accidents. Still, the Toyota entries should be strong at Texas so despite his lack of results, Truex should have a good day.

Moving on to Talladega, Truex needs to hope he can survive the carnage. The 2017 Cup Series champion only has three top-20 finishes in his last nine starts. Truex struggles on superspeedway tracks and while some races produce a decent amount of stage points, most of them end up in disappointment. It is definitely Truex’s worst track of the Round of 12.

Finally, the Charlotte ROVAL has been solid to the driver of the No. 19 car as he has a best finish of seventh place in four starts. However, Truex only has a best finish of 17th place in his last two starts. Truex has a victory on a road course during the 2023 season so there shouldn’t be too much worry about his chances overall.

Truex needs to avoid mistakes and bad luck in the Round of 12 if he wants to advance. The 25-point cushion will certainly help but he needs to use this round to get back on track because the Round of 8 would be even tighter. Truex will be in a better spot of advancing if he has a strong day at Texas but as he found out, anything is possible in the NASCAR playoffs.

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