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 the real reason the first pit stall at Martinsville is such a big advantage for Martin Truex Jr.


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Martin Truex Jr. can seemingly do no wrong this season.

Coming into the year, Truex had seven career victories in NASCAR's premier series, but he's already matched that total this season alone and there are four events remaining on the Cup Series' schedule.

Don't expect Truex's impressive run to slow down this weekend as the Cup Series visits Martinsville. That's because he's already earned a big advantage over the rest of the field even before the first practice has begun at the track.

With Cup Series qualifying scheduled just hours before the start of Sunday's race, NASCAR made the decision to allow teams to pick their pit stalls at Martinsville based on last week's qualifying results at Kansas. As you may remember, Truex was the pole sitter for that event, so he gets to choose whichever pit stall he wants and it sounds like he's already decided to take the very first box.

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"It's a very tight pit road, so just having that clean out I think is a huge deal getting to your pit stall and then having that clean out is a big deal," Truex said, according to ESPN. "We'll see if it works out. Hopefully it'll be an advantage. It typically seems like it's just a fast amount of time on pit road when the guys have first box."

Many people in NASCAR agree Martinsville's first stall offers a distinct advantage. The first being that Truex will not have to drive around other cars on exit. The second benefit is he will not have to worry about speeding since there's not enough time for him to reach those RPMs. Lastly, by picking the first pit stall, Truex's team can tell him when to leave so he can get the inside lane on restarts.

"I would say it's probably the biggest advantage of any track we go to, to have (the first choice of pit stall) there," Truex said. "We've already been working hard on Martinsville and that's certainly going to help us."

The First Data 500 at Martinsville is scheduled to begin this Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Fans at home can watch the race on NBCSN.

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