Martin Truex Jr. (19) makes a pit stop during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus)Driver Martin Truex Jr. gestures before the start of the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Homestead, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier).Denny Hamlin (11) makes a pit stop during the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, October 22, 2023 in Homestead, Florida.
He had only one top-10 finish in the first seven races of the playoffs – this forced him to avoid elimination at the end of the eighth and twelfth – and one engine failure. “It’s been really tough, and nothing really happened. That’s true,” Truex said Saturday. “I thought we were in a really good place last week. Things were going pretty good, and then we we stopped and the bottom fell out. We’re going to reset. We’re ready to go again.
Truex’s challengers include teammate Hamlin, who leads all active drivers at Martinsville with five career wins, and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney. Blaney is above the cut line trying to make sure a Ford is represented in the finale. headtopics.com
Also below the cut line are Tyler Reddick, who drives for Hamlin and Michael Jordan at 23XI Racing, and Chris Buescher of RFK Racing. Buescher can only get into the championship race with a win at Martinsville.
Hamlin, meanwhile, is trying to balance his own desire to be in the championship race with his hopes that Reddick can earn a spot for the team that Hamlin co-owns. “The way I look at it is I have two chances to get to the final four,” Hamlin said. “I would definitely prefer to do it on the driver side, because there will be a lot less opportunity to do it than on the owner side. Aric Almirola announced on Saturday that he will not return to Stewart-Haas Racing next season. a year after postponing his planned retirement for 2023 because sponsor Smithfield chose to stay in NASCAR. “I wouldn’t want to quit suddenly. headtopics.com
