Last weekend at the Bristol Motor Speedway, Martin Truex Jr was a man on a mission. He entered the race weekend, seven points below the cut line and was desperate to reach the next Playoff round. The bad news was that he could only muster a final finishing position of 19th on the race track. However, the good news was that he still managed to score enough points to keep himself in contention.

However, his inclusion came at the cost of denying Kevin Harvick a swansong. At the same time, he eliminated defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano from the equation. To make matters even better, he has catapulted up the order to sit pretty in 1st place, tied with William Byron. However, he cannot rest on his laurels because he has to try and reach the Round of 8. Everything starts at the Texas Motor Speedway.

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Martin Truex Jr wants to make up for his poor form in previous seasons

The veteran NASCAR driver had not enjoyed such a great 2022 campaign. Last year, he missed out on qualifying for the Playoffs and ended the year in a disappointing 17th place. As a result, there were a few talks of him considering retiring from the sport. Fast-forward to the 2023 season and he is the regular season champion and firmly in the title fight.

To be honest, Truex Jr. entered the Round of 12 by the skin of his teeth. To be precise, he finished a mere five points above the cut line, joined by Bubba Wallace. It was fortunate that he made it through to the next round. Otherwise, he would have the unfortunate honor of being the first regular-season champion to be eliminated in the first round.

Has the Joe Gibbs Racing star performed well at Texas Motor Speedway?

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He has never won at the Texas Motor Speedway. The closest he has ever come was a few Top 3 finishes over the course of his career. On the bright side, there is always a first time for everything to happen, and better late than never. With three wins this season, Martin Truex Jr is in the form of his life and hungry for a second Cup Series title.

That 2017 Cup title does seem awfully lonely and Truex Jr is fired up. In his championship-winning season, he took a career-best 2nd place at Texas and now he will be aiming to go one better. The question now is, can he outlast all of his Playoff rivals, which also include teammates Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell?

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