Martin Truex Jr. will make the final five starts of his Cup Racing career, beginning with the upcoming Charlotte Roval race this weekend. Despite not securing any wins this season, Truex Jr. has delivered some impressive performances, especially on short tracks.
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Following recent finishes of P5 at Kansas and P11 at Talladega, Truex approaches the Roval with an average finish of 15.7 across six races at this venue. His best showing there has been a P7, and notably, Truex Jr. was among the frontierspersons who initially tested the track when it was solely an infield road course surrounded by grass.
Reflecting on the evolution of the track since it was added to the NASCAR circuit in 2018, Truex observed several changes, including the addition of curbs and paint that have altered its character. As the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver reminisced, “I remember testing on the track for the first time when it was even a different configuration than we ended up with.”
He added, “There were no curbs, no grass, no paint, there was just dirt and old pavement. They just kept spicing it up and adding curbs and paint and all this stuff and it turned out to be a pretty cool-looking racetrack. […] They went out on a long limb when it was created and it’s turned out to be pretty cool.”
The #19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver reflects on his first Charlotte Roval Race
Back in 2018, when Truex Jr. first moved around the Charlotte Roval, he anticipated a challenging race. Initially, he doubted the track’s suitability for competitive racing due to its compact and narrow layout, but it didn’t take long for him to acknowledge the spectacle it provided. He said, “I was one of the first guys to test with just an infield road course with grass all around.
“I was wondering since it was small and narrow and not sure how we would race on it beforehand, but it turned out to be quite the show. You have to be open-minded and embrace the challenges and try to do the best you can with it,” Truex continued.
Although Truex Jr. is no longer in the playoff contention after the Round of 16, he currently holds the 14th spot in the driver standings, boasting two top-5 finishes and ten top-10s this season.
