Martin Truex Jr. using playoff bonus points to assert himself as championship favorite

It was a position Martin Truex Jr. has routinely found himself in, leading and well on his way to winning yet another stage. But instead of claiming the second stage during Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway, Truex and crew chief Cole Pearn deviated from their usual script.

In the 20 Monster Energy Cup Series races this season prior to Pocono, Truex and Pearn emphasized taking advantage of NASCAR’s new three-stage format that awards bonus points for winning segments and finishing in the top 10. Their goal each week was to win as many stages as possible, as any points accumulated would later be added to Truex’s total in the first three playoff rounds.

The strategy has worked out splendidly for Truex, who in addition to owning three wins overall and securely holding a postseason berth, also has a series-best 14 stage wins. That’s six more than second-place Kyle Busch, who won for the first time this season at Pocono.

On Sunday, however, Truex and Pearn chose not to focus on winning stages but the race itself. With that goal in mind, Pearn had Truex pit three laps from the finish of Stage 2, handing the top spot to Clint Bowyer, who on the playoff bubble needs every point possible and gladly took the 10 regular season points and one playoff point awarded for winning a stage.

A savvy call by a crew chief possessing a firm understanding that in the big picture foregoing immediate success is better if he wants to deliver Furniture Row Racing its first-ever Cup Series championship. Between his race and stage wins, Truex has already amassed 29 playoff points. Factoring in that he leads the series standings comfortably by 85 points over second-place Kyle Larson with five regular season races remaining, he’s also likely to collect another 15 bonus points.

That hefty points cushion is why Pearn willingly sacrificed a stage win for a race win, which carries with it five extra playoff points.

“The thought there was if we didn’t pit there, we probably weren’t going to have a shot at winning the race,” Truex said. “That was the gamble. That was our mindset before the race. We figured if we felt like we were good enough to possibly win the race, we’d have to pit before the end of that second stage. Just stuck to our plan.”

The gambit failing is of little consequence. (Ultimately Truex finished third behind Busch and Kevin Harvick.) Truex’s 44 bonus points he’s hoarded allows the No. 78 team to take chances.

Essentially, Truex and Pearn are playing with house money. Barring a complete collapse, Truex will likely end the regular season atop the standings, thereby erasing any hesitation to take a risk in order to grab another victory.

And come the playoffs, those 44 bonus points (and possibly more) loom large.

Although the exact nature of how the Cup Series playoffs will transpire under this new stage format where points can be scored seemingly in bunches, what’s clear is that Truex is in the catbird seat. Larson’s current tally of 23 bonus points is second-best, followed by Busch (20).

Even if a steep performance decline were to happen, almost assuredly Truex will advance past the first round thanks to beginning the 16-driver playoffs with somewhere around a 40-point cushion over some of the participants toward the bottom of the standings.

“I think the playoff points are probably understated,” said Brad Keselowski, who ranks fourth in total playoff points. “We ran the model really early after the announcement and it would have made a big difference in every season to who would have made the Championship 4 with having playoff points.

“And it’s going to make a big difference this year. I don’t think it’s going to change. Those [points] add up really quickly.”

After the first round when four drivers are knocked out of the postseason, the path to the four-driver championship round at Homestead-Miami Speedway obviously toughens.

Still, Truex will have on his side those bonus points acting as a safety net, protecting him against a mechanical failure at an inopportune time -- much like when a blown engine last year at Talladega Superspeedway resulted in a sudden and unexpected second round dismissal.

“You can’t have enough [playoff points],” Pearn said. “I mean, the best way to get a lead is to keep winning them and not let other people win them. … The more we can get, the better.”

And with a win guaranteeing automatic advancement to the next bracket, Truex and Pearn could also win and move on. A realistic proposition considering the No. 78 team’s dominance, particularity on the mile-and-a-half speedways where all three of Truex’s victories have occurred this season, of which there are five same sized tracks in the 10-race playoffs including the best-finish-wins finale at Homestead.

Of course, nothing is guaranteed. At a minimum, though, all signs point toward Truex being among the four title contenders even if there is a bump or two along the way to South Florida.