Early in Martin Truex Jr.'s final Cup Series season, it seemed inevitable that he would reach victory lane multiple times. Now, however, he is just trying to snap a stretch of issues and make it through the opening round of the playoffs.
"I wouldn't say pissed off -- just a little bit frustrated with how things have gone lately," Truex said Saturday at Watkins Glen. "No matter what we do, it is wrong, and we can't catch a break."
Truex scored four top-five finishes and seven top-10s in the first 12 weeks of the season. The team dealt with setbacks on pit road and on the track, but it remained firmly in contention for wins.
In the 15 races since, however, Truex has only scored two top-10 finishes. He enters Sunday's race at Watkins Glen having finished 24th or worse in six consecutive races. This stretch includes three DNFs.
"It is not a lack of speed," Truex said. "It is a lot of different things. You call it a slump -- great players get in slumps in other sports, and that is what I feel like it is.
"I feel like we are doing a lot of good things -- we have lot of speed and put ourselves in position, we just have to put it all together. Some days I make mistakes, some days the team makes mistakes, some days - last week we got caught up in an accident. There has been a lot of that."
Multiple incidents have kept Truex out of victory lane. He had a long pit stop at New Hampshire due to an issue with a lug nut and then he hit the wall.
He was in the dominant car at Richmond before a late caution. Teammate Denny Hamlin then jumped the restart in overtime, moved Truex up the track, and won the race.
"If you take a look at this year, that car has overcome all kinds of adversity," team owner Joe Gibbs said in June. "It was again (at New Hampshire) -- and to fight all the way back, last week, and to wind up ninth is a perfect example. We've kind of been doing that all year.
"We've been the dominant car too at times, and things just didn't go well at the end of the race, so we are sitting there in points. Last year we won the regular season. I just think our team there, if we have a few things go our way, I think we could win the championship this year."
Truex dealt with setbacks during last season's playoffs as well. He didn't finish better than 17th in the first six races of the playoffs. However, he was able to reach the Round of 8 by virtue of points. He had won three races during the regular season, which helped him lock up the regular-season championship and 15 bonus points.
This season is different. Truex only has four playoff points to his name. This put him below the cutline entering the Round of 16 and then he fell further into a deficit due to unexpected issues at Atlanta.
Truex was a bystander in an incident that began when Chris Buescher lost control, slid up the track, and tagged Ryan Blaney. This contact spun the No. 12 into the wall. It then rebounded and slammed into Truex's No. 19.
Blaney was able to continue in the race and finish third. Truex sustained significant suspension damage and finished 35th. He left Atlanta 19 points below the cutline with two races remaining in the Round of 16.
"It is obviously a bit of a hole to dig out of," Truex said about his points situation. Although he said he doesn't know if he is in a "must-win" mode just yet.
"So it is unfortunate last week that we got caught up in that and got some damage. I don't know. We will just have to wait and see. We are going to try to win, but I think we will know more after this weekend is over."
Watkins Glen is a track where Truex could turn his playoffs around. He has finished inside the top 10 in 11 of his 17 Cup starts at the road course. Six of these finishes were in the last seven races, a stretch that includes four top-fives and a win.
Truex will have an early advantage as he tries to set himself up for a trip to the Round of 12. He qualified second for the pivotal race, which put him on the front row next to pole-winner Ross Chastain.