Martin Truex Jr. admits he still struggles to fully grasp that he is the defending Monster Energy Cup Series champion. It’s a crown that came by way of winning a series-best eight wins, compiling one of the most dominant seasons in NASCAR’s modern era, and unflappably holding off a charging Kyle Busch over the final laps in the championship finale to secure his career-first title.
Martin Truex Jr. says being NASCAR’s Cup champion is ‘pretty damned awesome’
The accomplishment of winning his first Cup Series title hasn’t yet fully set in, but thus far Martin Truex Jr. is enjoying the experience.
Oh, there have been moments when Truex recognizes the magnitude of what he accomplished. Still, even with the season-opening Daytona 500 less than 30 days away, it hasn’t completely sunk in quite yet.
“I don’t know that it’s still 100 percent,” Truex said Wednesday during the NASCAR media tour at the Charlotte, N.C., Convention Center. “I don’t know if I’m going to feel different tomorrow or still going to feel different when I show up at Daytona. I don’t know how long it lasts. But it still feels really good; it’s still pretty damned awesome.”
One of the many subtle differences Truex has noticed occurred when he put on his fire suit prior to taking part in a two-day Goodyear tire test at Texas Motor Speedway. On the right shoulder of his uniform was a new patch indicating that he previously has won a championship, and it marked the first time the 37-year-old driver entering his 13th full season had seen it.
“Very cool to see,” he said.
When Truex joined Furniture Row Racing in 2014, there was little indication he would eventually deliver the Colorado-based team its first championship. He was coming off an uneven four-year stint with Michael Waltrip Racing that produced all of one victory and a single playoff berth. And his first season with FRR offered faint promise — a lone top-five finish, one lap led, and points ranking of 24th.
But when Cole Pearn took over crew chief duties during the latter part of 2014, he and Truex quickly jelled, with their relationship evolving into one of the best in the garage. That manifested itself on the track with the No. 78 team winning once and making the championship round in 2015, followed by four wins the next season.
“He’s relentless,” Truex said of Pearn. “His work ethic and what he’s willing to do, he’ll do anything to win and to be competitive and get the job done. All of our guys feed on that, whether it’s the shop guys or the road guys or even the pit crew. They feed off of that, and it’s been a big reason for our success.”
There was no slowing Truex and Pearn last season. He led over 2,200 laps, finished outside the top 10 only 10 times, and was atop the championship standings 22 of 36 weeks. His superiority on intermediate tracks — which made up 50 percent of the playoff schedule — was especially pronounced with all but one of his eight wins coming on such sized speedways, including the championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Truex is well-positioned to successfully defend his title and enters the 2018 season among the favorites. Although Chevrolet is introducing a new model car, the sleeker and improved aerodynamically Camaro, Toyota is expected to be the top manufacturer. And FRR’s alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing remains strong despite the organizations regularly vying for supremacy and FRR often getting the better of the team it relies on for equipment and technical data.
“I’m so confident, honestly,” Truex said. “I really feel like we can go and start the season right where we left off. Just pick up where we left off and continue as a team as we’ve done in the last couple years. We know what to work on, and we’re just going to keep going down that road and hopefully have more success, but you never know.
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