Could Talladega become Martin Truex Jr.’s own personal nightmare? The fiercest NASCAR track boasts a 2.66-mile oval course and steep banking of 33° that invites speeds over 190mph. It would have been a gentle breeze for the regular-season champion of this year. But Truex Jr. in the first four playoff races with 22.5 as his average finish? It is nothing short of a brewing hailstorm.

The #19 driver of Joe Gibbs Racing was visibly frustrated with the team effort with each disappointing race. But on the foothills of a historically grueling climb, he tightened his safety harness and stood by his trusted belayers.

Martin Truex Jr. locks down his Talladega strategy after banking on previous playoff points

Three wins and nine Top 5 finishes later, Martin Truex Jr. entered the playoff race with the highest points in his belt. Four weeks in, the headlines changed along with his race results. So far, the 2017 champion has avoided the threat of elimination, with the playoff points and regular season winning points acting as a life-saving cushion.

In an interview with Frontstretch, Truex Jr. admitted to the advantages it provided him. “Everybody talks about throughout the regular season just how important they are. We made an example of that unfortunately”. However, would their support hold up the weight of another dismal race?

The erratic racetrack is known for unpredictable outcomes and caution-filled races. The slope of the track is more likely to result in a DNF than a continuation after a multiple-car collision. Truex Jr. failed to complete this convoluted race 13 times in his career.

Even more worrisome, he has yet to grab the checkered flag in the 37 Talladega starts of his entire career. With an average finish of 21.4 on the racetrack, it dismayingly lines up with the performance of his other playoff races. Calling the tri-oval “more out of your control than some other tracks”, MTJ impressively remained optimistic in the pre-race interview.

“At the same time if you can find yourself in the front and make the right moves, have good pit stops, have on and off pit road under green, stay with your teammates all that, we’ll have plenty of speed to be upfront which we’ve had here in the past. There’s still a lot to worry about and there’s still things you have to focus on and execute. Ultimately the best place to be these races is at the front. We just need to do the best we can and stay in there.”

Watch this story: Martin Truex Jr Expresses Frustration Over Team’s Performance

It seemed JGR had a clear plan for reaching and staying toward the front of the race this weekend. But with elimination at stake, the other playoff contenders would not hand over an easy pass to the #19 team.

Joe Gibbs Racing poses a united front prior to the taxing Talladega race

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Apart from Brad Keselowski, none of the remaining playoff drivers have won more than twice on this erratic racetrack. Only 50%, i.e., 6 out of 12 contenders, could claim to fly past the checkered on the troublesome Talladega Superspeedway. Especially in the past three years, no one, not even Keselowski, could boast of more than one victory each. Not only does that put an impressive perspective on the Earnhardt father-son duo’s records here, but it also heightens the scale of the challenge for Truex Jr.

In these circumstances, it became imperative for the #19 team to up their preparations before they faced the competition head-on. But in a surprising revelation, the Joe Gibbs Racing team joined their individual factions to stand by each other for a fruitful team outcome.

Truex Jr. elaborated, “We’ve put a lot of effort in watching the video and looking at all the stuff our engineers gave us at Toyota and JGR. And all the drivers, we all worked together really well and looked at past races and things…We’re so committed, we’re all basically on the same team…If we can all make it to the end and be together, we’ll have a really good shot at one of us winning”. 

Even if Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. have each other’s backs for the YellaWodd 500, would the Hendrick Motorsports’ heroes let them succeed?

Read More: Martin Truex Jr Makes Unwanted History for Joe Gibbs Racing, Leaving NASCAR Insider Speechless