“Turn 2 Was a Big Challenge Before” – Martin Truex Jr on Repaving at Darlington

In the coming race weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Darlington Raceway. Darlington plays host to the opening round of the playoffs, as the championship fight gets serious. For this weekend, there is a new challenge, because the track authorities are repaving one of the turns. In light of this, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr spoke about how the new changes will affect the race.

He said, “I really don’t know. It’s hard to say how exactly it will affect our car. I’d say that if they were going to repave any part of the track, it’s probably one of the places where it will make a huge difference. Your entry speed is still going to be limited by the track grip.

“Turn 2 was a big challenge before, with the bumps that were in it, and the lack of grip. It’s just going to take that whole turn out of the equation.”

What else did Martin Truex Jr say?

The #19 driver also talked about his chances of succeeding in the playoffs this year. In the regular season, Truex Jr racked up three Cup Series wins. He clinched victory at Phoenix, Martinsville, and at Darlington, and these tracks will be revisited later on in the playoffs. The 2017 Cup Series champion insisted that he is highly confident heading into this weekend’s first playoff.

Truex Jr acknowledged that tracks where he and the team performed well at, are always a good sign. On the flip side of the argument, there are a few tracks that have not been too kind to him. Since this is the playoff stage, the stakes are tougher, especially since the lowest placed drivers are eliminated.

So if a playoff driver encounters a rough patch, it could adversely affect their chances. Although Martin Truex Jr is confident, he knows that anything can happen to any driver during this stage.

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