Hospital Births

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Stage racing adds wrinkle to Pocono Raceway

<p>LONG POND &#8212; These days, it takes longer to introduce Martin Truex Jr. than it does for him to run a lap at a short track.</p><p>Before speaking at Pocono Raceway on Friday, Truex waited patiently for a NASCAR spokesman to rattle off all of the driver&#8217;s accolades &#8220;in a myriad of categories&#8221; so far this season.</p><p>First in driver points. First in stage wins. First in stage points. First in playoff bonus points. First in average running position. First in driver rating. First in fastest laps run. First in laps led. Tied for first in top-10 finishes.</p><p>His two race wins put him tied for second behind Jimmie Johnson. Tsk, tsk.</p><p>On Sunday, he&#8217;ll start second in the field at the Axalta Pocono 400, looking to add a second career victory at the Tricky Triangle. It was the second straight week he narrowly missed the pole.</p><p>&#8220;Second (place) two weeks in a row stinks a little bit,&#8221; Truex said. &#8220;But we got faster each round. So it was a good day.&#8221;</p><p>How to account for all of this success in 2017? Truex spoke at length about the comfort level that he&#8217;s developed with his team at Furniture Row Racing, along with third-year crew chief Cole Pearn.</p><p>&#8220;For us, it&#8217;s just having another year together under our belts and in the Toyota camp. It&#8217;s been an improvement,&#8221; Truex said. &#8220;Last year, we started out with a lot of new things and we had to learn our way early in the season. We still had some good results, but definitely not at the level of confidence or consistency as this year.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been neat to have the same group of guys and continue to get better and grow together. It&#8217;s been good.&#8221;</p><p>Especially in the past month.</p><p>Since May 13, Truex has finished in the top three in each of his past three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races. He won at Kansas City before taking third the past two Sundays at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte and at Dover.</p><p>Each race, he said, was winnable.</p><p>&#8220;I feel like this is just a strong part of the schedule for us,&#8221; Pearn said after the victory at Kansas City. &#8220;I look back at the last two years, and I think Kansas, Charlotte, Dover, Pocono, Michigan are all really strong tracks for us. And we always circle that time frame to know that&#8217;s our shot to capitalize just because that&#8217;s where we&#8217;ve typically run strong.&#8221;</p><p>As for this weekend, the New Jersey native said he enjoys returning close to where he grew up &#8212; Dover is the only Cup track closer to his hometown of Mayetta.</p><p>Truex won the June race at Pocono in 2015 but has dealt with some issues in his last three trips to the area &#8212; everything from a fuel shortage to a blown tire to a loose lug nut.</p><p>But prior to those mishaps, Truex said he was pleased with how his car was running each time and he&#8217;s optimistic about his chances Sunday.</p><p>&#8220;I definitely have some confidence coming here to Pocono. It&#8217;s been a really good track for us the last few years,&#8221; Truex said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve had some really strong cars here. Some bad luck, but really, really fast cars. So I&#8217;m excited to come back.</p><p>&#8220;I love coming up here really close to where I grew up. It&#8217;s kind of a second or third home track. I have some good friends up here, and I enjoy the area. Coupled with a race track that&#8217;s been good to us makes it fun. I&#8217;m looking forward to having a good weekend.&#8221;</p><p>In 22 previous starts at Pocono, Truex has three top-five finishes and seven in the top 10.</p><p>A two-time title-winner (2004-05) in the Nationwide Series &#8212; now known as the Xfinity Series &#8212; Truex replaced Kurt Busch at Furniture Row in 2014.</p><p>After a rocky first season, the team has kept improving since Pearn came aboard in 2015, leading up to this impressive stretch as spring turns into summer.</p><p>&#8220;The first year with Martin, as you know, was pretty tough,&#8221; team owner Barney Visser said after winning at Kansas City. &#8220;We didn&#8217;t know exactly what we had, and he didn&#8217;t know exactly what he had. And it&#8217;s just been golden ever since. &#8230; He&#8217;s just been outstanding.</p><p>&#8220;He drove like a champion, and that&#8217;s where we think we&#8217;re headed. That&#8217;s the goal. And we&#8217;ve got a driver that can do it, I think.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Martin Truex Jr. has been running as well as anyone in the Cup series headed into Sunday&#8217;s Axalta Pocono 400. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_MENCS_Pocono_TruexJr_060917.jpg</photo0><caption0>Martin Truex Jr. has been running as well as anyone in the Cup series headed into Sunday&#8217;s Axalta Pocono 400. </caption0><photoCredit0>Jeff Zelevansky | Getty Images via NASCARmedia.com </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Comfort key for Martin Truex’s charge to the top of Cup standings