SPARTA, KY - JULY 07: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota, stands on the grid during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway on July 7, 2017 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)

Here's how Martin Truex Jr. can clinch the NASCAR regular season championship


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Heading into Saturday night's race at Bristol, Martin Truex Jr. has a chance to secure NASCAR's regular season championship.

Truex currently has a 129-point lead over second place driver Kyle Larson, and if he leaves Bristol with at least a 121-point lead, he will clinch the regular season title despite there being two races left in the regular season.

The winner of the regular season gets 15 playoff bonus points, which is five more points than the second place driver.

Related: Martin Truex Jr. "angry" after his botched restart gave Kyle Larson the win

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Truex said he knows what's at stake this weekend at Bristol.

"It might appear that we have a safe margin, but I've been around long enough to know that points can dwindle fairly quickly," Truex said via Autoweek. "The next three races -- Bristol, Darlington and Richmond -- are at tracks where the odds are higher of your day ending prematurely. So that's why I am not looking ahead or counting points. All the focus right now is getting a good result in Bristol."

Truex already has 35 playoff points, and he will be among the favorites to win the championship.

A lot can change over the course of a few races, but Truex has been the best driver this season and it's hard to imagine his lead disappearing.

(h/t AutoWeek)

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