via RotoWorld/Dan Beaver.
Martin Truex Jr. had a career year. The association with between Furniture Row and Joe Gibbs Racing bore fruit to a high degree in 2016 and Truex was a favorite on several occasions. He dominated a few races so much, in fact, that winning one’s league at Charlotte Motor Speedway or Kansas Speedway in their first races could not be accomplished without him. Truex also garnered perfect a Driver Rating at Texas Motor Speedway in the spring and was among the top five in that statistic on several occasions.
Truex more than doubled his career victories last year. Winning four times for a total of seven overall, separated 2016 from all of his previous seasons and no one is going to be surprised to see him in the Chase next year. Once in the playoffs, he is going to have to avoid mistakes because that was his Achilles Heel quite often last year. Mistakes in the pits, on the track, and occasionally simple bad luck dropped him from contention—and it always seemed to happen at a time when he could not rebound before the checkers.
A blown engine at Talladega SuperSpeedway in October was the last straw, but he rebounded to be a good value at Martinsville Speedway and Texas in the final round. Unfortunately, just as players began to trust him again, he crashed out of the final two races of the season to record a 40th at Phoenix International Raceway and 36th at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
With so much positive energy at this team, they nevertheless are ranked just outside the top 10 for 2017. The reason for that is primarily their inconsistency. Yes, Truex earned four wins and eight top-fives but he also failed to finish four times and had seven results outside the top 20. There is also the matter of the second Furniture Row team coming next this year. Erik Jones has just as much potential to help the team as to provide a distraction and fantasy players are not going to know which it will be before the green flag drops at Daytona International Speedway.
Truex swept the top 10 at Texas and Richmond International Raceway last year, but he could easily have done so on several other courses. Look for him to be at his best on similarly-configured, 1.5-mile tracks and he could be a great differentiator in early races before most fantasy players know whether he will be predictable. One has to be prepared for some heartache, however.
Victories: Charlotte (spring), Darlington, Chicagoland, and Dover (fall)
Top-fives: 8 (.222)
Top-10s: 17 (.472)
Top-15s: 25 (.694)
Truex more than doubled his career victories last year. Winning four times for a total of seven overall, separated 2016 from all of his previous seasons and no one is going to be surprised to see him in the Chase next year. Once in the playoffs, he is going to have to avoid mistakes because that was his Achilles Heel quite often last year. Mistakes in the pits, on the track, and occasionally simple bad luck dropped him from contention—and it always seemed to happen at a time when he could not rebound before the checkers.
A blown engine at Talladega SuperSpeedway in October was the last straw, but he rebounded to be a good value at Martinsville Speedway and Texas in the final round. Unfortunately, just as players began to trust him again, he crashed out of the final two races of the season to record a 40th at Phoenix International Raceway and 36th at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
With so much positive energy at this team, they nevertheless are ranked just outside the top 10 for 2017. The reason for that is primarily their inconsistency. Yes, Truex earned four wins and eight top-fives but he also failed to finish four times and had seven results outside the top 20. There is also the matter of the second Furniture Row team coming next this year. Erik Jones has just as much potential to help the team as to provide a distraction and fantasy players are not going to know which it will be before the green flag drops at Daytona International Speedway.
Truex swept the top 10 at Texas and Richmond International Raceway last year, but he could easily have done so on several other courses. Look for him to be at his best on similarly-configured, 1.5-mile tracks and he could be a great differentiator in early races before most fantasy players know whether he will be predictable. One has to be prepared for some heartache, however.
Victories: Charlotte (spring), Darlington, Chicagoland, and Dover (fall)
Top-fives: 8 (.222)
Top-10s: 17 (.472)
Top-15s: 25 (.694)
Track
|
3-Yr
Avg. Fin |
Career
Avg. Fin |
Best
Fin |
Career
Attempts |
Career
Top-10s |
Race 1
|
Race 2
|
Dover Downs International
|
6.67
|
14.18
|
1
|
22
|
11
|
9
|
1
|
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
|
9.00
|
14.27
|
2
|
11
|
3
|
11
| |
Chicagoland Speedway
|
9.33
|
14.91
|
1
|
11
|
3
|
1
| |
Charlotte Motor Speedway
|
10.17
|
16.22
|
1
|
23
|
7
|
1
|
13
|
Texas Motor Speedway *
|
10.50
|
13.83
|
2
|
23
|
12
|
6
|
3
|
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
|
11.17
|
14.48
|
3
|
23
|
8
|
16
|
7
|
Atlanta Motor Speedway
|
12.00
|
18.89
|
3
|
18
|
6
|
7
| |
Darlington Raceway
|
12.33
|
11.64
|
1
|
11
|
5
|
1
| |
Kansas Speedway
|
12.33
|
16.76
|
2
|
17
|
5
|
14
|
11
|
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
|
12.33
|
18.33
|
4
|
12
|
3
|
8
| |
Richmond International Raceway *
|
14.83
|
20.50
|
3
|
22
|
7
|
9
|
3
|
Watkins Glen International
|
15.00
|
13.09
|
3
|
11
|
6
|
7
| |
Kentucky Speedway
|
15.33
|
13.17
|
7
|
6
|
3
|
10
| |
Martinsville Speedway
|
16.00
|
20.59
|
5
|
22
|
7
|
18
|
7
|
Phoenix International Raceway
|
16.71
|
17.86
|
5
|
22
|
7
|
14
|
40
|
Homestead - Miami Speedway
|
17.25
|
12.33
|
2
|
12
|
7
|
36
| |
Talladega SuperSpeedway
|
18.17
|
20.42
|
5
|
24
|
8
|
13
|
40
|
Michigan International Speedway
|
18.50
|
16.45
|
2
|
22
|
7
|
12
|
20
|
Pocono Raceway
|
19.67
|
16.50
|
1
|
22
|
7
|
19
|
38
|
Sonoma Raceway
|
20.67
|
19.55
|
1
|
11
|
3
|
5
| |
Auto Club Speedway
|
21.00
|
20.13
|
6
|
16
|
4
|
32
| |
Daytona International Speedway
|
22.50
|
22.52
|
2
|
23
|
3
|
2
|
29
|
Bristol Motor Speedway
|
25.00
|
20.86
|
2
|
22
|
2
|
14
|
23
|
+ Top-five sweeps
* Top-10 sweeps
* Top-10 sweeps
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