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Editor’s note: This continues a series where we review the top 20 drivers in 2023 NASCAR Cup Series points.
Season in review: Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Crew chief: James Small
Final 2023 Ranking: 11th
Key stats: 3 wins, 9 top fives, 17 top 10s, 899 laps led
How 2023 ended: Because of such a frustrating season, Truex had contemplated retirement after 2022. But he returned for a strong and successful season in 2023, earning three wins and advancing to the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs tied with William Byron for first. Unfortunately, he failed to advance to the Round of 8 and struggled in five of the seven remaining playoff races (four finishes of 17th or lower and one other finish of 12th).
Best race: Truex’s top race was his third and final win of the 2023 season, dominating at Loudon in Race No. 20. He started on the outside pole, won both stages and led a season-high 254 of the event’s 301 laps, holding off runner-up Joey Logano by 0.396 seconds.
Other season highlights: Truex’s other top races were his wins at his home track of Dover Motor Speedway on May 1 and on June 11 at Sonoma. Ironically, both Dover and Sonoma are Truex’s most successful Cup tracks, having recorded four wins at each.
Stat to know: Truex contemplated retirement after a difficult 2022 season, his worst since 2014 (first winless season since 2014; just four top fives and 15 top-10 performances, his fewest in each category also since 2014; and failed to make the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons since, again, 2014). He bounced back in 2023 to make the playoffs with three wins (second-most since seven in 2019), 17 top-10s and three poles (most since four in 2018).
Quotable: Truex on finally winning at Loudon, a track he grew up watching NASCAR races in-person: “I don’t think so (when asked if there has ever been a win he’s wanted more). What we’ve been able to do here over the years is pretty remarkable, and to not win was really getting frustrating. … I sat in Turn 1 (as a kid) with my mom. My little brother was drinking out of a (baby) bottle. This is the first big track I ever came to with my dad and watched and the first time I ever seen Cup cars in person and Busch cars in person. It’s been a special place for us. Being able to win K&N, being able to win the Busch Series, this one (a Cup win there) has been eluding me for a long, long time. So I’m just really, really happy, really thankful.”
READ MORE:Martin Truex Jr. On the Importance of the Busch Light Clash
Looking ahead: After the disappointment of 2022, the 2023 season was a resurgence for Truex. However, don’t be surprised if he struggles again in 2024. The Mayetta, N.J., native turns 44 on June 29. Another point of reference: he earned 24 of his 34 career Cup wins to date between 2015 and 2019, but has only managed eight wins from 2020 through 2023.
