DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Martin Truex Jr. quickly erased any doubts that he would mightily pursue a defense of his 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series trophy when he convincingly won from the Busch Pole position last March at this weekend’s venue, Auto Club Speedway.
Although Joey Logano ultimately won the 2018 series championship, Truex returns to California for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) as motivated as ever in his debut season driving for the Joe Gibbs Racing team.
MORE: Full Auto Club schedule
He’s already earned two runner-up finishes through the first four races of the 2019 season and that statement-making performance in California last year is on the minds of Truex and his competitors.
The New Jersey native will be inducted into the track’s Walk of Fame on Friday morning before opening practice — a nod to his triumphant past. And when opening practice begins hours later, the focus will shift to a triumphant present.
He and his longtime crew chief Cole Pearn – who also moved from Furniture Row Racing to lead the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota Camry effort – were optimistic following a preseason Goodyear tire test at the 2-mile California track back in January. Two of his teammates – Denny Hamlin in the season-opening Daytona 500 and Kyle Busch at ISM Raceway last week – have victories already and Truex is ready to join the trophy hoisting.
His win at California last year was the first of four victories in a season, where he strongly answered his 2017 title ultimately with a runner-up championship finish.
“Our team is really looking forward to getting to California this week,” Truex said. “It’s one of my favorite tracks and I felt good about the test back in January.
“Obviously, the weather is going to be different and there will be more than three cars like at the test, but we feel like we’ve learned a lot about the package since then. We need to go in there Friday and unload strong and carry that through the weekend.
“I’m excited to see if we can go back-to-back there because it’s really turned into one of the most fun tracks on the circuit.”
Truex has three top 10s – including the two runner-up showings at Atlanta and last week at Phoenix. The only mar on the season is a 35th-place finish in the Daytona 500 after his Toyota was collected in a multi-car wreck.
Truex has top-10 finishes in three of the last four races at Auto Club Speedway and led a total of 224 laps in that time. He led a dominating 125 of the 200 laps and won every stage last year. And his 11.7-second margin of victory over former race winner Kyle Larson was among the most dominating efforts of the season.
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