Martin Truex Jr. had a noteworthy Sunday, both on the race track and off.
The New Jersey native cracked the top 10 with an eighth place finish in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It was the second race of the Challenger Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. He currently sits at ninth overall, moving up two spots since last race.
On the very same day, Furniture Row re-signed Truex for the 2016 season and also announced a switch to Toyota. Truex and Furniture Row have been racing with Chevrolet for the past two years.
Truex credited his crew for the improved race Sunday:
MT: "Awesome job on pit road today, guys. You kept us in this thing thank you!"#FurnitureRowRacing #Sylvania300
— FalciAdaptiveMotorsports (@FalciAdaptive) September 27, 2015
One race remains in the Challenger Round before the field is cut to 12 drivers for the Contender Round. Truex has a little more breathing room after a top 10 finish Sunday. A 13th place finish at Chicagoland Speedway in the first race of the Chase had left Truex in a precarious position.
With the eighth place finish Sunday, Truex is still somewhat on the bubble, but another good race should be enough to land a spot in the next round.
Truex has won once before at Dover International Speedway, in 2007, the site for the final race of the Challenger Round.
Here’s a look at the standings ahead of next Sunday’s race at Dover:
Current points standings for #TheChase. @MonsterMile is going to be insane. pic.twitter.com/4s0HEszM0N
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) September 27, 2015
Calvin Jouard is a Mile High Sports intern and a student at the University of Denver