With a Pocono 400 win in his pocket, Martin Truex Jr. has declared himself the third challenger for the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series championship.
For all the talk there’s been about Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, all of it warranted since they’ve won nine races combined, there are a lot of other good Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers in the field every week. One of them happens to be the defending series champion, and Martin Truex Jr. made sure everyone didn’t forget or overlook him at the Pocono 400.
Truex became the third multi-race winner of the year by taking the Pocono victory, but what might have been more impressive was the way he did it. Though the 78 didn’t look like the fastest car most of the afternoon, it was always right around the lead, and when late restarts fell in his favor, he was able to scoot away from Kyle Larson to find Victory Lane for the second time this season.
That’s a big deal, because while Truex was already all but locked into the 2018 NASCAR Playoffs thanks to his win at California, he now is very much in the conversation as a title contender as he’s separated himself from one-time winners Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer and Austin Dillon. He isn’t racking up bonus playoff points like he was in his championship campaign, but he’s got time to narrow the gap there as well over the summer.
At the other end of the playoff field, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is now on the bubble for the playoffs, and his position is tenuous because he leads Alex Bowman by just nine points following Pocono. The fact that only six drivers have won this year is good for those hoping to make the postseason on points, but there’s no way to feel comfortable if you’re in the teens in the standings.
Next: Pocono 400 highlights, stage results
2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings after the Pocono 400
(regular season race 14 out of 26)
- Kyle Busch, 624 points, 4 wins, 25 playoff points
- Kevin Harvick, -87, 5 wins, 25 playoff points
- Joey Logano, -90, 1 win, 7 playoff points
- Martin Truex Jr., -137, 2 wins, 13 playoff points
- Brad Keselowski, -150, 4 playoff points
- Clint Bowyer, -171, 1 win, 5 playoff points
- Kurt Busch, -177, 2 playoff points
- Denny Hamlin, -187, 1 playoff point
- Kyle Larson, -199,
- Ryan Blaney, -211, 3 playoff points
- Aric Almirola, -218
- Jimmie Johnson, -264
- Chase Elliott, -290
- Erik Jones, -302
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., -305 (currently in final playoff spot)
- Alex Bowman, -314
- Paul Menard, -335, 1 playoff point
- Austin Dillon, -355, 1 win, 5 playoff points (in playoffs via win, in top 30 in points)
- Daniel Suarez, -366
- Jamie McMurray, -371
- William Byron, -375
- Ryan Newman, -382
- Bubba Wallace Jr., -395
- AJ Allmendinger, -395
- David Ragan, -400
- Chris Buescher, -420
- Michael McDowell, -431
- Kasey Kahne, -437
- Ty Dillon, -446
- Matt DiBenedetto, -469
- Trevor Bayne, -479
- Gray Gaulding, -530
- Cole Whitt, -539
- Landon Cassill, -554
- D.J. Kennington, -569
- Matt Kenseth, -579
- Corey LaJoie, -585
- Jeffrey Earnhardt, -589
- Reed Sorensen, -593
- Brendan Gaughan, -600