The 2017 Winston Cup Series: Truex gets win No. 5

Martin Truex Jr. celebrates after winning the 2017 Tales of the Turtles 400 at Chicagoland. Truex led 77 of 267 laps.

     Martin Truex Jr. had a great run Sunday at Chicagoland, taking the checkered flag and winning his fifth race of 2017. That's a career high for Truex, who also extended his "classic" point lead. Chicagoland, the most "cookie cutter" of all cookie cutter tracks on the circuit, proved to be uneventful with only two cautions that weren't the end of a stage. Only 12 cars finished on the lead lap, and all 40 cars were running at the finish... Truex Jr. finished ahead of Chase Elliot, who notched his 7th top-five of the year. Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five. Kyle Busch led the most laps but came home 15th, one lap down...
     I saw a post on Twitter yesterday that compared Truex's career to that of Dale Jarrett. I don't think I could agree more... Jarrett ran nine seasons in NASCAR with only a few wins, before exploding on the scene with Robert Yates racing, winning 18 races in four years, and the 1999 championship. Truex Jr. has a similar story; who would've thought that he would develop into a championship contender? Truex drove four full seasons for DEI/Earnhardt-Ganassi, with one victory in 2007. He didn't win again until 2013 with Michael Waltrip Racing, before switching to Furniture Row Racing in 2014. Now 37, Truex is looking at his best shot at the title...

Truex Jr. racing for Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2006

     Now that the "playoffs" have begun, you're about to see some noticeable differences in the official standings vs. the "classic" points on this blog. Remember, we're acting as if the playoffs/chase didn't exist. In the classic format, Truex Jr. has now extended his point lead to 29 over both Busch and Harvick. With his good run Sunday, Chase Elliott loses the least to Truex, maintaining 7th position, 92 points back. Rather than fighting for their "playoff" lives, Jamie McMurray and Ryan Newman are both running well, 8th and 9th in points. Clint Bowyer hangs on to 10th, as opposed 18th in the official standings. And Jimmie Johnson currently sits 13th, way out of the championship hunt...

     Plenty of silly-season news broke over the last week... Both Aric Almirola and Danica Patrick are now free agents for 2018, only adding to the list of drivers questionable for next year, including Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, and Kasey Kahne. Almirola has one career win, coming in the rain-shortened 2014 Coke Zero 400... Patrick remains winless in 181 starts, one of the longest streaks for active drivers. The big question is how many of these "free agent" drivers will be able to find a ride for next season. Kasey Kahne could possibly end up with Leavine Family Racing, which could mean the end of Michael McDowell in the #95, or a two-car operation. I personally doubt Kenseth, Busch, or Patrick are interested in a small-car team that can't compete, so their futures are definitely up in the air. I will say, that I think it'd be great to see Darrell Wallace Jr. take over the #43, we'll see what happens...

Martin Truex Jr. holds a 29-point advantage with nine races to go in 2017...

     Next week, the Cup series heads to New Hampshire for the final fall race at the track (Unfortunately, Las Vegas will take over the track's 2nd race date in 2018)... Jeff Burton holds the track record of 4 wins at New Hampshire, but five drivers have a shot to tie that this weekend. They include Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin, who won at New Hampshire back in July... While Truex Jr. has never won New Hampshire, he has been consistently fast. In the last three races there, Truex has led 401 of 900 laps. He has another great shot of extending his point lead this coming Sunday.