August 29, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

A mere three points stood between Truex and a title run

Three points.

That’s all that stood between Martin Truex Jr. and his eighth straight appearance in the NASCAR Cup Playoffs.

Three points. 

Three positions he could have picked up in any of the previous 25 races entering the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday.

Three points.

The advantage that Ryan Blaney gained over the final 16 laps--the margin that knocked the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team out of eligibility for the 2022 championship.

Less than 24 hours after the checkered flag fell in the Coke Zero Sugar 400, it’s still hard to imagine a postseason without Truex in the mix. Last year, he joined an elite fraternity of just three drivers to advance to the Championship 4 Round for a fifth time—an accomplishment shared with only Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

The 42-year-old second-generation racer is something of a late bloomer. Twenty-eight of his 31 career wins came after he turned 35. Truex was 37 when he was crowned NASCAR Cup champion in 2017. While drivers celebrate their titles in different ways, watching the selflessness of Truex spending time with patients at Sunrise Children’s Hospital during champion’s week in Las Vegas was memorable.

For Truex, the dynamic was different in those days. Under the direction of Cole Pearn at Furniture Row Racing, the affable racer flourished. The single-car operation was sophisticated, yet laid-back. After nine seasons in Cup, Truex was suddenly a weekly and title contender.

After Furniture Row folded following the 2018 season, Truex moved on to Joe Gibbs Racing. That first season, he and Pearn recreated their magic. Truex won seven races in 2019—the second-most of his career. He finished second in the standings for a second season, but Pearn was tired of the grind. Truex’s secret weapon retired from his crew chief role in search of a new life-work balance.

The transition year, 2020, resulted in one win and a seventh-place finish in the standings under the direction of crew chief James Small. Truex finished the year with an average finish of 11.7. Last year, the average crept up to 12th. After Sunday, Truex’s average is 13.2 his worst since 2016. The last time Truex went this deep in a season without a victory—2014—he didn’t win a race.

In any other year, accumulating the fourth most points would have certainly guaranteed a driver a spot in the Playoffs. But not in a year with 16 different winners—four who had never scored a Cup victory and one--Kurt Busch--who withdrew from the Playoff because of injury.

Truex leads the tour with seven stage wins—but that doesn’t matter now. The only win that would have mattered would have been a race victory to secure a spot in the Playoffs. And Truex had opportunities. Richmond is one of Truex’s best tracks. He has three wins and an average finish of 2.75 in his last eight starts, but it was a disaster for the No. 19 team. Truex didn’t lead a lap, picked up one stage point and finished seventh despite starting sixth.

“He drove his balls off all day,” Small said post-race at Richmond. “He got back on the lead lap all by himself. We made it better at the end, but it wasn’t good enough.” 

The following week at Watkins Glen, Truex started 25th and finished 23rd—one position ahead of Blaney. In his four previous starts at the Glen, Truex finished third or better. He was never a factor at the Go Bowling at the Glen.

Even before the season began, the competitors knew Daytona would be a wild card. While racing is unpredictable at best, there’s an element of crazy that exists at superspeedways. Running faster than 180 miles per hour within inches of other drivers in the draft is a dicey proposition. Throw in the threat of weather and just two spots remaining in the Playoffs between 15 contestants, and all bets are off.

Blaney had a 25-point advantage entering Daytona. He got nailed in the first multi-car wreck 31 laps into the contest. Truex was running in the top 10 when he was swept up in an eight-car melee 71 laps later. His car was never the same.

“I knew we shouldn’t have been up there, dude,” Truex told Small over the radio. “We had it. All we had to do was ride. So stupid.”

After the 13-car wreck with 22 laps remaining, Truex was 15 points ahead of Blaney. NASCAR red-flagged the race for rain and to clear the debris. When the action resumed, only 10 cars remained on the lead lap. Blaney whittled away Truex’s lead over the final 16 laps. With five laps remaining, the positions had reversed. 

Truex soldiered on to finish eighth. He climbed from his car, completed his TV and radio responsibilities and made the long walk to the media bullpen. After 26 weeks—culminating with a postponement due to rain followed by another three-hour hold for weather—explaining his plight to reporters was probably the last thing he wanted to do.

Clearly, he was disappointed, but Truex offered no excuses. He remained gracious.

“Just way too much damage at the end to do anything at all,” Truex said. “We really did a good job; to make up 22 points in one race is a big gain. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough. The Bass Pro Shops Toyota was really fast. We ran a smart race, just wrong place, wrong time. Thirty cars out here today could say that.

“It’s just frustrating. We run well and get wrecked. At the end of the day, we had somewhat of a decent finish, but it doesn’t matter. It sucks. There’s no way of sugar-coating it. You race your ass off all year. You work hard and you try to do all the things it takes and you come up three points short.

“It’s pretty tough to swallow when I know we can do something in the Playoffs.”

Before the 2023 season, the No. 19 team needs to find what is “enough” and what must be done to ensure Truex returns to championship contender status again.