Martin Truex Jr. takes points lead after Top-10 finish at COTA
AUSTIN — After picking up his fourth consecutive Top-10 finish, Martin Truex Jr. is now atop the NASCAR Cup Series point standings.
Truex Jr. finished 10th Sunday in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), earning eight stage points with a third-place result in Stage 2.
Truex has earned 220 points across the season. His teammate Ty Gibbs is second with 215 points. Third through fifth in points are Ryan Blaney (211), Denny Hamlin (206) and Kyle Larson (205).
Truex is the fifth driver to sit atop the points in 2024. The last time he led the points was in September 2023 after points reset in the playoffs at Bristol for the Round of 12.
Points leaders this season
After his Daytona 500 victory, William Byron assumed the top spot.
After Atlanta, Kyle Busch was the points leader. Then, Kyle Larson’s win at Las Vegas propelled him to the lead.
Defending champion Ryan Blaney assumed the lead after Phoenix, only for Larson to re-claim the points lead after Bristol.
No one driver has held the lead for more than two consecutive weeks in 2024.
There are 20 races before the playoffs, but whoever leads the points after race 26 (Darlington) will earn an additional 15 playoff points towards the NASCAR Playoffs.
Truex is no stranger to winning the regular season title, having claimed it in 2017 and 2023.
The next race for the series is schedule for Sunday, March 31 at Richmond Raceway.
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.