Truex hopes to overcome "stumbles" with Kansas win

Truex swept both Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Kansas Speedway last season and will be looking for his third consecutive win in Saturday night’s KC Masterpiece 400.

The Furniture Row Racing driver is coming off a fourth-place finish at Dover, which snapped a four-race streak the featured three wrecks and no finish better than 14th.

“Winning three straight at Kansas would be pretty special,” Truex said. “We’ve been so good there the past three or four years but also had some heartbreakers after having the best car and not winning.

“Getting those two last year meant a lot. It was gratifying to get the job done but still feel the track owes us a few more.”

Truex’s 713 laps led at Kansas ranks second to Matt Kenseth’s 774. Truex has been the Kansas lap leader four times. His two best laps led were at the spring races in 2012 (173) and 2016 (172). He finished second in 2012 and 14th in 2016, providing some disappointment before capturing the pair of victories at the track last season.

“For whatever reason Kansas has always been a good track for me,” Truex said. “There’s something about the transition in the corners there that I am comfortable with. The balance of the cars I have had there just seemed to make speed.

“That is why I am definitely looking forward to going there and hopefully repeat what we did last year.”

Truex, the reigning series champion, has one victory so far this season (at Fontana, Calif.) but is ninth in the series standings thanks in part to his three DNFs.

“Our performance so far this season has been up and down a little bit, but speed-wise we’ve been there each and every week,” he said. “We’ve had really fast cars and I feel like we’re right there in speed where we were last year.

“But we had a few stumbles along the way, and had some unexpected things come up here and there that have bit us. If we can clean up the rest of the stuff we’ll be really good.”