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Truex on his title hopes: "No one said this was going to be easy"

Just when it seemed Martin Truex Jr. and his Furniture Row Racing team had moved on from the sometimes strange issues that have plagued them this season, adversity has returned in full force in the second round of the Chase.

Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota

Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota

Action Sports Photography

Race winner Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota
Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota
Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota
Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota
Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota
Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota
Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota
Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota

It couldn’t come at a more inopportune time.

Truex, whose No. 78 Toyota team has led more laps than any other this season, burned through the first round of the Chase with two wins and a seventh place finish.

Round 2, however, is not going nearly as well.

No doubt, we had a couple of issues that stopped our momentum

Martin Truex Jr.

Last week in Charlotte, Truex was running third late in the race but a faulty clutch led to a 13th-place finish. He seemed primed for a strong run Sunday at Kansas Speedway, but his race was sent in disarray when his team had difficulty getting the full amount of fuel in his car.

That led to a mixed up pit strategy, which got him caught one time on pit road when a caution was displayed. Truex rallied to finish 11th and is now seventh in the Chase standings.

Heading to Talladega

The four Chase drivers lowest in points without a win after next Sunday’s race at Talladega, Ala., are eliminated from title contention as the field is cut from 12 to eight. Truex will go into the race with a 13-point cushion over ninth place.

“No doubt, we had a couple of issues that stopped our momentum,” Truex said after the race. “We had a good car, but not a great car.

“We had that problem of getting fuel in the car and that forced us to make a stop out of sequence. From that point on, we just battled as best we could. When we were back in traffic it was hard to pass and get to where we were before the fuel issue.”

Later in the race, Truex experienced a tire rub on his right-rear tire. Wishing no further problems, the team elected to pit when the final caution came out on Lap 237 of 267.

“We didn’t really have a choice about making that last pit stop,” Truex said. “You have to keep the big picture in play. A flat tire would have put us in a very difficult position to advance to the next round.

“Looking at everything we had to deal with today, it wasn’t a disaster, and we’re still in the hunt. We’ve just got to go to Talladega and hope that nothing crazy happens.”

Given the history of superspeedway races – particularly at Talladega – that may asking a lot.

“No one said this was going to be easy,” he said. “You just keep on battling, that’s all you can do.”

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