As the bright California sun faded into the northern California sky, the FOX coverage portion of the NASCAR Cup Series season came to an end. There are only 10 races left before the playoffs with several drivers wondering what’s left in store for their season. Drivers such as Chase Elliott or Alex Bowman are wondering what lies ahead for them in the next 10 races as they make their push to the playoffs. For one driver that knows that their path to the playoffs is secure, that driver is Martin Truex Jr. Coming into this year, Truex was riding a winless streak that has lasted over a year, which was well documented. But MTJ wasn’t going to let that winless streak but the talk of his 2023 season.
Domination From Truex:
As the Cup Series rolled west from St. Louis to Sonoma, all eyes were on Kyle Busch. Busch secured his third win of the season last weekend at Gateway in dominating fashion. Once cars were on track for practice, it was obvious that Toyota’s were going to be tough to beat. Specifically, the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. Hamlin started on pole and Truex started in eighth position. It took Truex to lap 33 to make his pass for the lead on Hamlin, but he was finally able to grab the lead. After that pass for the lead, Truex barely looked back. Truex would go on to lead 51 of the 110 laps en route to his fourth victory at Sonoma.
This victory also secures Truex’s place in the playoffs. This is Truex’s second victory on the season, his first being at Dover. This win also confirms something big for Truex. Martin Truex Jr is having fun in NASCAR again. So maybe, just maybe Truex will stick around for a few more years. Truex is currently 42 years old and made it obvious that he was not having fun last season. Rumors swirled around Truex for months that kept saying that 2022 was going to be his last full-time season. It was confirmed by Truex himself that he would be back for the 2023 season but hasn’t said anything for 2024 yet. But even before the Cup Series rolled west to Sonoma, there were major headlines brewing. Specifically with the Next-Gen car.
More Next-Gen Changes:
Prior to Sonoma, on Thursday afternoon, it was announced that Noah Gragson would miss Sonoma due to a concussion. Truck Series driver, Grant Enfinger, filled in for Gragson on Sunday. This is the third driver to miss a race in the last year and a half due to a concussion from the next-gen car. In late July last year, Kurt Busch would have a qualifying crash at Pocono which forced him to retire from full-time competition. Alex Bowman would have a crash in October early in the race at Texas. Bowman would miss five of the last six races of the 2022 season. Last week in St. Louis, Gragson suffered a hard crash late in the race, and as previously said, announced that he would miss Sonoma. The common denominator between these crashes? All these crashes had the rear end of the car taking the brunt of the force.
NASCAR has made notable changes to the rear end of the car in the offseason. But Gragson’s crash was the first real test for the new changes. Only time will tell if there will be more concussions throughout the remainder of the season. On the front end of the car, NASCAR has made several changes after a vicious crash between Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece. This crash between Larson and Preece happened late at Talladega earlier this year. NASCAR showed a video on social media about the changes to the front end of the car which went into depth about these changes. These changes will take place in effect at Atlanta in a few weeks. But first comes another popular stop on the circuit.
What to Expect from Nashville:
In two weeks, NASCAR will make another stop at the fan favorite Nashville Superspeedway. For years, Nashville has been a popular destination for the Trucks and Xfinity Series in the early 2000’s and 2010’s. Since the return to Nashville in 2021, there has been great racing in all three series at Nashville. Hendrick Motorsports have won both Cup Series races in Nashville. One with Kyle Larson, the other with Chase Elliott. If there is one team to keep an eye on at Nashville, it would be Hendrick Motorsports. But for now, the drivers have earned a much-deserved off week. In just two weeks, the stars of NASCAR will once again be tearing up the circuit as they race towards the playoffs. But more importantly, towards the championship.
