NASCAR can change all the rules they want, Furniture Row Racing will still ‘try and figure it out’
NASCAR is being dominated by 3 drivers in 2018. Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick share 5 wins a piece. Martin Truex Jr just notched win number 4 at Kentucky Speedway.
That’s 14 wins for the big 3, in the first 19 races of the season. All the other winners combined only total 5 wins.Other winners: Clint Bowyer [2], Austin Dillon [1], Joey Logano [1], Erik Jones [1].
The big 3 have already separated themselves. It’s July, they aren’t locked in to the championship 4 round but they might as well be.
Why is that happening and is it good for the sport?
“Great teams, great drivers. You know, just doing all the little things right,” Martin Truex Jr said after picking up his 4th win of 2018 at Kentucky Speedway.
“It takes so many people and so many parts and pieces to do this job. And to be at the top of this sport. It just shows across the board how good our teams are.”
“You have 1-2 guys not doing their job, you have a driver that’s not focused. Just [if] any one of those things in that circle are messed up then you’re not going to be able to get results that we’re getting.”
“It’s just a perfectly oiled machine. The 3 teams feel like they’re very close. You think about the rules package and the rules we have today and how many things are scrutinized by NASCAR… And just how difficult it is to get these cars through tech alone.”
“To think three teams have been able to figure it out. You know, consistently [on] how to be better than everybody else. It’s pretty amazing.”
Good for the sport?
“Is it good for the sport? I don’t know. I really don’t care,” Truex states from the media center.
“My job is to go win races. My job is to win championships. That’s what I’m here to do.”
“They can keep changing the rules. They can change things all they want and we’re gonna try and figure it out. That’s just what we do.”
NASCAR has gone to great lengths in recent years in search of a level playing field. Things like the optical scanning station are designed to help keep the field closer. Yet, despite those lengths, select teams still stand out from the crowd.
“With that being said you never know when it’s going to change. I can’t tell you how difficult it is and how much goes into this. We have 70 people on our team. I don’t know. I’m just guessing, picking a number.”
“If one of those people screws up, we’re not winning next weekend. It just shows what kind of team sport this is. The sophistication behind setting these cars up in the simulation. And our engineers, the job Cole [Pearn] does.”
“All those things pull together. It’s crazy how good it’s been working. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
“I feel good about where we’re at. Last weekend was a totally different situation. You know, half the field was crashed. More than half, it’s hard to say.”
“But, you never know what the other guys are going through, where they’re at. What they’re trying. Maybe they battled a couple things that came up, which they didn’t expect. You just never know where anyone’s at.”
“I just feel like we’re getting more dialed into the package. And what we need to look for and the things that we need to work on. With that being said, it all changes when the playoffs start and you need to be ready for anything.”
