Martin Truex Jr. hoping for similar Dover run from May

Martin Truex Jr. is 12/1 to win at Dover this week.

As a Furniture Row Racing driver Dover has been best-finishing track

DENVER, Colo. (Sept. 29 2015) – The next three Sprint Cup races – Dover, Charlotte and Kansas City — carry a positive statistic for Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet.

He led the most laps earlier in the year at each of those three venues – 131 at Dover, also 131 at Charlotte and 95 at Kansas City.

“We had great cars but let those races slip away – that’s the bad news,” said Truex, who finished sixth at Dover, fifth at Charlotte and ninth at Kansas City. “The good news is that we have a pretty good handle on each of those tracks. But right now, our only concern is Dover and making sure we advance into the next round of the Chase.”

Heading into Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover’s Monster Mile, Truex is positioned ninth in the 16-driver Chase point standings. Following Dover, four drivers will be eliminated and the remaining 12 will advance to the next round of three races with a clean slate of points.

“We’re still in it, but it’s tight and everyone is playing hardball, which is the way it should be in the Chase playoffs,” said Truex, who scored his first Sprint Cup victory at Dover on June 4, 2007. “We just need to duplicate what we did in New Hampshire, race smart, make no errors and avoid bad breaks.”

Though Dover has been the best-finishing track for Truex as a Furniture Row driver (6.33 average finish in three races – 6th, 7th, 6th), he is very well aware of the challenges that the all-concrete 1-mile oval presents.

“Dover’s a tough racetrack — high bank, high speed,” said the Mayetta, N.J. native, who calls Dover his home track. “The concrete surface there makes it a huge challenge. The key, as hard as it sounds, is to get the car somewhat comfortable. That place is so treacherous you have to really drive on the edge all day long.

“But Dover has been good for me during my career. It’s a place I have really enjoyed. My first time there was back in 2000 in the Busch North Series and I feel like I have a good understanding of the track. We had a great run there in June, led most of the first half of the race. We feel like we know a couple of things that we need to do a little bit better to try to finish the deal off. Right now it’s all about trying to beat the 48 at Dover (Jimmie Johnson). It’s a good place for us to close out the first round of the Chase.”

In 19 career Cup starts at Dover, Truex has one win, one top-five, nine top-10s and has led 358 laps. His average start is 13.6 and average finish is 15.3.

Truex’s Career Record at Dover

Year	Start	Finish	Status/Laps	Laps Led	Earnings
2006	21	22	Running, 399/400	0	107,783
	33	6	Running, 400/400	0	123,283
2007	26	1	Running, 400/400	216	295,045
	5	13	Running, 399/400	0	103,170
2008	20	6	Running, 400/400	0	145,433
	16	20	Running, 399/400	0	105,308
2009	15	21	Running, 399/400	0	122,165
	32	33	Crash, 251/400	0	105,790
2010	1	12	Running, 400/400	2	98,675
	3	34	Running, 383/400	4	67,700
2011	8	8	Running, 400/400	1	109,425
	1	30	Running, 396/400	2	93,100
2012	18	7	Running, 400/400	0	140,204
	3	6	Running, 400/400	0	132,674
2013	2	38	Engine, 279/400	2	113,405
	10	15	Running, 399/400	0	116,835
2014	16	6	Running, 400/400	0	144,878
	26	7	Running, 400/400	0	125,573
2015	2	6	Running, 405/405	131	148,815

Dover International Speedway Totals

Races	Win	T5	T10	Pole	Laps Led	Laps Completed	AvgSt	AvgFn	DNF	Money
19	1	1	9	2	358	7309 of 7605 96.1%	13.6	15.3	2	2,399,261

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
12	5/24	Charlotte	9	5	600/00	131	Running	187,350	41/432	2
13	5/31	Dover	2	6	405/405	131	Running	148,815	40/472	2
14	6/7	Pocono	3	1	160/160	97	Running	201,810	48/520	2
15	6/14	Michigan	9	3	138/138	0	Running	137,580	41/561	2
16	6/28	Sonoma	12	42	31/110	0	Crash	88,195	2/563	2
17	7/5	Daytona	19	38	105/110	0	Crash	115,648	6/569	5
18	7/11	Kentucky	5	17	267/267	0	Running	111,035	27/596	5
19	7/19	Loudon	15	12	301/301	0	Running	117,485	32/628	5
20	7/26	Indianapolis	13	4	164/164	0	Running	283,170	40/668	5
21	8/2	Pocono	13	19	160/160	6	Running	106,015	26/694	5
22	8/9	Watkins Glen	2	25	90/90	5	Running	102,335	20/714	6
23	8/16	Michigan	22	3	200/200	0	Running	137,130	41/755	4
24	8/22	Bristol	23	28	495/500	0	Running	127,175	16/771	6
25	9/6	Darlington	7	9	367/367	0	Running	129,660	35/806	6
26	9/12	Richmond	16	32	394/400	0	Running	102,835	12/818	7
27	9/20	Chicagoland	4	13	267/267	39	Running	131,670	32/2035	11
28	9/27	Loudon	21	8	300/300	0	Running	121,210	36/271	9

Top 5s: 7   Top 10s: 18   Laps Led: 536  Avg. St: 12.0  Avg. Fn: 13.0  Money: $4,324,255

- DMF Communications for Furniture Row Racing