After crunching Chase scenarios, NASCAR has informed Furniture Row Racing that team driver Martin Truex Jr. has mathematically clinched a Chase berth, assuming he starts the five remaining races before the 10-race, 16-driver playoff format commences on Sept. 18 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.
This will be the fourth career Chase appearance and second straight for Truex. It will also mark the third Chase appearance in the past four years for the single-car Furniture Row Racing team.
Driving the No. 78 Toyota Camry in the first 21 races of the current season, Truex ranks eighth in driver points and ninth in Chase playoff points. He has garnered one win, three top fives, nine top 10s, three poles and leads the Sprint Cup Series with laps led at 1,005.
“So many people have been part of our performance success this season,” said Truex. “Our crew, led by crew chief Cole Pearn, has been fantastic, the guys back at the shop in Denver have built some really fast race cars, our Toyota-powered engines and our technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing have been nothing short of awesome.
“Right now we need to get rid of our recent string of bad luck and start getting the results that our performances deserve. We feel that we’re very capable of making a return trip to Homestead-Miami Speedway as a final-four participant for the Sprint Cup Series championship.”
