Martin Truex Jr. picks up highest finish of 2020

Martin Truex Jr. earned his highest finish in the NASCAR Cup Series Sunday (June 7) with his third-place finish in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Truex, the 2017 series champion, swept Stages 1 and 2 with victories in the race and followed up with his first Top-5 finish of 2020.

In total, Truex led on six occasions for 65 laps.

“We’ve had a really strong season as far as being competitive and getting tons of stage points, and we’ve been kind of lacking on our finishes a little bit,” Truex said. “So it felt good to get that Top-5 out of the way. 

“I wish we could have won. I felt like through the first two stages we had a dominant car, and then the track changed and we didn’t keep up with it. That’s just part of this racing, so we need to do a better job of that.”

Prior to Sunday’s race, Truex’s highest finish of the season was sixth-place on two occasions (Darlington I and Charlotte I). His previous recent Top-5 finish was in the November 2019 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Ten races into the season, Truex has five Top-10 finishes, 183 laps led and sits fifth in driver’s points.

Truex enters the June 10 Martinsville race with a 114-point cushion over the playoffs cutline, a nearly two-race margin.

The 39-year-old driver is the most recent winner at Martinsville, claiming victory in October 2019.

“Martinsville has been a good track to us the past few seasons, and being the defending winner there last time feels great, but it doesn’t guarantee anything,” Truex said.

“Different rules package, lower downforce this time around, and we’ll have to hopefully go there and have something that will work good off the trailer because again, no practice.  We’ll see how it goes, but excited about it and looking forward to a night race at Martinsville.”