Martin Truex Jr. favored to race himself into All-Star Race

Truex Jr. is part of the 'Field' bet at 10/1 to win All-Star race

DENVER, Colo. (May 13, 2015) – Martin Truex Jr. said the non-points Sprint All-Star weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway comes with plenty of fun in a less stressful environment.

But in order for the Furniture Row Racing driver to qualify for a spot in Saturday night’s main event at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he will have to win one of the two 20-lap segments in Friday night’ s Sprint Showdown or get voted in by the fans. The Sprint Showdown is only for drivers not qualified for the All-Star race.

The 17 drivers who have already qualified for the Sprint All-Star race have either won a race in 2014 or 2015, or are former Sprint Cup Series champions or former All-Star winners. The remaining three slots will come from the Sprint Showdown and fan vote.

“The bad news heading into the weekend is that we’re not qualified for the big show,” said Truex. “The good news is that we’ll be at a 1.5-mile track which has been one of our strong suits this season. Our best overall run at a 1.5 track was last Saturday night in Kansas where we led the most laps (95) and had an excellent shot of winning that race.”

For the record, Truex finishes at 1.5-mile tracks this season have been – sixth at Atlanta, second at Las Vegas, ninth at Texas and Kansas for a four-race average finish of 6.75 .

“It’s a safe bet that the Showdown will be two no-holds-barred races,” said Truex. “Every car will be going for the gold, including our Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet. Silver and bronze don’t count. It’s first or nothing.”

Truex is off to his best start since joining the Sprint Cup Series full time in 2006. He has notched 10 top-10 finishes in the first 11 races and currently sits second in driver points. He and reigning Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick are the only two drivers who have secured 10 top-10 finishes to start the season.

“We’ve prove d that we can run in the top-10, but we also want to prove that we can win a race,” noted Truex. “I truly believe we’re getting closer and closer to Victory Lane.”

Truex has participated in five All-Star races. His best finish was second in 2010.

Truex’s Sprint All-Star Race Results

Year	Start	Finish	Status/Laps	Laps Led	Earnings
2005	22	22	Crash, 35/90	0	109,950
2007	19	10	Running, 80/80	0	88,385
2008	4	16	Running, 100/100	0	75,400
2010	19	2	Running, 100/100	0	233,299
2014	12	18	Crash, 60/90	0	85,911

Sprint All-Star Race Totals

Races	Win	T5	T10	Pole	Laps Led	Laps Completed	AvgSt	AvgFn	DNF	Money
5	0	1	2	0	0	365 of 460 79.5%	15.2	13.6	2	592,945

Truex’s Sprint Showdown Results

Year	Start	Finish	Status/Laps	Laps Led	Earnings
2005	8	10	Running, 30/30	0	31,875
2006	13	20	Running, 30/30	0	30,335
2007	11	1	Running, 40/40	3	52,386
2009	6	6	Running, 40/40	0	32,150
2010	20	1	Running, 40/40	8	51,760
2011	7	13	Running, 40/40	0	24,375
2012	2	4	Running, 40/40	0	35,785
2013	1	5	Running, 40/40	0	33,540

Sprint Showdown Totals

Races	Win	T5	T10	Pole	Laps Led	Laps Completed	AvgSt	AvgFn	DNF	Money
8	2	4	6		11	300 of 300 100%	8.6	7.6	0	292,206

Truex’s 2015 Sprint Cup Series Results

No.	Date	Event	St	Fn	Laps	Led	Status	Money	Points	Standing
1	2/22	Daytona 500	10	8	203/203	1	Running	489,772	37	8
2	3/1	Atlanta	14	6	325/325	0	Running	150,615	38/75	5
3	3/8	Las Vegas	8	2	267/267	3	Running	268,950	43/118	4
4	3/15	Phoenix	15	7	312/312	0	Running	121,025	37/155	3
5	3/22	Fontana	12	8	209/209	5	Running	136,240	37/192	3
6	3/29	Martinsville	3	6	500/500	23	Running	118,665	39/231	3
7	4/11	Fort Worth	15	9	334/334	0	Running	163,380	35/266	3
8	4/19	Bristol	16	29	504/511	0	Running	120,120	15/281	3
9	4/26	Richmond	6	10	400/400	0	Running	114,710	34/315	3
10	5/3	Talladega	36	5	188/188	0	Running	169,600	39/354	2
11	5/9	Kansas	4	9	267/267	95	Running	122,060	37/391	2

Top 5s: 2   Top 10s: 10   Lap Led:  127   Avg Start: 12.6    Avg. Finish: 9.0    Money: $1,975,137

- DMF Communications for Furniture Row Racing