Truex named the pre-Chase favorite by Kyle Busch

Busch believes the spotlight should shine on fellow Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr., and the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing squad.

“I’d probably look at the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) for having the most raw speed here as of late, and that’s the guy that probably we’re all chasing at the moment,” Busch said. “But given that we’re within the same organization, the same team and have all the same stuff that – it’s on us as the 18 team, myself and Adam Stevens (crew chief) to be able to go out there and race hard and get the same or better results than they can.”

A tale of the tape has the competitors pretty well matched when it comes to averages and laps led. Busch and Truex share an average qualifying effort of 9.5 and an average finish of 13.1, a remarkable coincidence. Truex has three poles this season while Busch has two. Busch tops the laps led category with 1,244 but Truex trails only slightly with 1,234 — a career best and more than twice as many as he led last season (567) after 36 races.

Truex responds to being named the favorite

Truex modestly told Motorsport.com that, under the current Chase format, it's difficult to pick a favorite.

“This is racing, and a lot can happen,” Truex said. “And you got to make it through the elimination rounds, but I do think if we can get to Homestead, we’re a favorite just based on the speed we’ve had. When it boils down to one race where the fastest car is going to take it home, we’re going to have a really good shot.

“But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s take it one race at a time. First we have to get there. We showed last year that you could get there without being the fastest car every week. Last year, we were consistent and didn’t make mistakes and we got there. Now this year is a little bit different situation. If we can just do our jobs, be smart, be consistent, not have any bad luck, then we’ve got a really good shot at it.”

Bad luck has plagued the Denver-based team this season. Prior to his win at Darlington Raceway two weeks ago, Truex had issues on pit road in 19 of the first 24 races. Despite finishing third at Richmond International Raceway last weekend, Truex was busted for speeding on pit road and then failed the Laser Inspection Station (LIS) in post-race.

Truex hopes the bad luck has run its course, now that the playoffs are about to begin.

“We’ve had enough of it, that’s for sure,” Truex said. “It was a pretty crazy summer, really, to see some of the things that happened to us. You just have to hope it doesn’t crop up on you again.

“Just focus on the things you can control and just hope nothing falls out of the sky and hits the car. It’s been crazy with some of the stuff we’ve seen.”

The resilience of Martin Truex Jr. is paying off

Still, Truex has proven his resilience over the years. In 11 full seasons of Cup racing, he’s driven for four teams. In his three years with FRR, he’s transitioned from a Chevrolet to a Toyota, thanks to a manufacturer change for the organization this season.

That move and a new affiliation with Joe Gibbs Racing brought four new friends with benefits--a loaded JGR roster that includes Busch, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth, all of whom collaborate on setups and driving strategies. Based on the performance this year, those four Gibbs teammates are likely to also be Truex's most formidable competition in the Chase.

“I think we have a good enough relationship so I don’t think anything is going to change,” Truex said. “I think if there are one or two of these cars at Homestead, then we might say alright, everybody is on their own this weekend. I think we’ve been so strong though is because of the teamwork and belief in each other. It’s been so fun to be a part of that.

“As far as I know, the plan is to keep doing what we’ve been doing and try to get one of these cars a championship.”