Truex Jr Starts P13 tonight with Hamlin P19
It all comes down to unpredictable Daytona International Speedway to decide who will win this season’s NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Championship. One thing is for certain, a Joe Gibbs Racing driver will be taking home the prestigious honor, trophy and fifteen (15) Playoff bonus points. The question is, ‘Which one?’
Currently, Martin Truex Jr. holds the NASCAR Cup Series’ point standings lead by 39 points over his teammate Denny Hamlin in second. Truex can clinch the Regular Season Championship, no matter what Hamlin does, if he scores 22 points tonight.
Seems not too difficult, and normally that might be the case, but this time Truex is facing some daunting obstacles. The first being the unpredictability of ‘superspeedway racing,’ and Truex has not won a superspeedway event in the NASCAR Cup Series in his career. At Daytona, Truex has made 36 starts posting three top fives and six top 10s. He has finished runner-up at the 2.5-mile track twice, the most recent coming in the 2018 DAYTONA 500, where finished runner-up to Denny Hamlin.
The second biggest obstacle to overcome this weekend is his teammate Denny Hamlin, who just so happens to be one of the best active drivers on superspeedways. He leads all drivers entered this weekend in wins at Daytona International Speedway with three victories (2016, 2019, 2020). In total, Hamlin has made 35 starts at Daytona putting up three wins, 11 top fives, and 12 top 10s.
If Truex (2017) wins the 2023 Regular Season Championship this weekend, he will join Kyle Busch (2018, 2019) as the only two drivers to win it multiple times.
If Hamlin takes the Regular Season Championship, he will become the sixth different driver in series history to win the prestigious honor; joining Kyle Busch (2018, 2019), Chase Elliott (2022), Kyle Larson (2021), Kevin Harvick (2020) and Martin Truex JR. (2017).
High stakes on the high banks TONIGHT.
— Daytona International Speedway (@DAYTONA) August 26, 2023
It’s the #CokeZeroSugar400 and Regular Season Finale! pic.twitter.com/qN5ow4TNj5
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