Sport
Truex’s winning streak puts him among NASCAR’s all-time greats
Jan
In four of the last five NASCAR Cup Series seasons, Martin Truex Jr. has finished first or second.
The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota finished second in the 2021 finale at Phoenix Raceway two weeks ago, finishing second in the standings. Kyle Larson, a fellow Championship 4 contender, won the race and hence the championship. When the checkered flag flew at the 1-mile track in the Arizona desert, Truex was 0.398 seconds short.
“That’s three times we’ve been second, and that sucks,” Truex said on pit road afterward. “Second hurts, I’m not going to lie, especially with the car we had and the job the guys did.
“That’s racing, as they say, and sometimes you’re just not on the right end of things.”
Truex’s second-or-better streak began in 2017, when he won his first championship. Truex finished second in 2018-19. In 2020, he finished sixth after being knocked out in the Round of 8. This year’s result was the fourth in the last five playoff attempts.
Below is a closer look at how those seasons played out for Truex.
| SEASON | STANDING FINISH | FINALE FINISH | CHAMPION | WINS |
| 2017 | 1st | 1st | Martin Truex Jr. | 8 |
| 2018 | 2nd | 2nd | Joey Logano | 4 |
| 2019 | 2nd | 2nd | Kyle Busch | 7 |
| 2020 | 7th | 10th | Chase Elliott | 1 |
| 2021 | 2nd | 2nd | Kyle Larson | 4 |
The uniforms of NASCAR racing drivers are currently available at the following websites for a reasonable price:
