FONTANA, Calf. – While Kevin Harvick is dominating the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series tour with eight consecutive top-two finishes, Furniture Row Racing has spawned its own streak too.
With their eighth place finish in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club (Calf.) Speedway, driver Martin Truex Jr. matched the total number of top-10 runs in his first season with the Denver, Colorado-based team.
With his fifth straight top-10 finish to close out the West Coast stretch, Truex equaled a career-best for consecutive top-10s during his Sprint Cup tenure.
“We were way off after Saturday’s final practice but came out today and did what we needed to do,” said Truex. “I am proud of the guys for going to work last night and not being afraid to take a big swing at the setup. To go out there and run with a completely different setup than we had Friday and Saturday and come away with an eighth-place finish really says something about this team.”
Furthermore, the team’s uphill climb in Sprint Cup Series competition sees them third in the championship standings behind season winners Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano. Truex trails Logano by five points and 33 to fellow Chevrolet racer Harvick.
Next weekend, the series heads back east for the demanding Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where Truex and the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet posted less than stellar results. In March, Truex clutched to a lead lap 21st place finish, while in October a crash resulted in a 38th place finish.
Momentum is everything in NASCAR. That’s been proven time and time again.
But when you’re on a roll, much like Truex and his No. 78 team are enjoying, prior statistics goes out the window and the team will focus one thing and one thing only, keeping their momentum train alive.
“We never give up and believe in each other,” added Truex. “On that last restart I wasn’t in the best spot and lost some ground (fifth to eighth). On the previous restart, I was able to make a good gain in track position (ninth to fifth). It’s been a great start for our Furniture Row team with five straight top 10s. We just need to keep it going and try to improve each week.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
