Martin Truex Jr. Just Made NASCAR History

Monday afternoon, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series headed onto a dirt-covered Bristol Motor Speedway for the Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt. Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr. took part in the race and dominated despite having no dirt race experience. He also won the race and joined a very exclusive club in the process.

With the win, Truex became only the 36th driver in NASCAR history to win a race in all three of the top series — Truck, Xfinity, and Cup. He officially became part of the “Triple Threat” club. Truex was in full control of the Truck Series race on Monday, leading 105 of the 150 laps. He outpaced regular drivers in the series, such as Hailie Deegan and Ben Rhodes, ultimately winning by 1.49 seconds.

According to Sportscasting.com, the triple threat only became possible in 1995 with the creation of the Truck Series. Ken Schrader was the first person to achieve this goal, winning the third-ever race in the series. His victory took place at Saugus Speedway in California. Terry Labonte joined him in September 1995 with a win at Richmond Speedway.

There are several big names on the list of drivers to win in all three series. Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, and Clint Bowyer are only some of the examples. Christopher Bell, one of Truex’s teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, also joined the club during the second week of the season. He won the Daytona Road Course race, his first in the Cup Series, after previously reaching Victory Lane in the Xfinity and Truck Series.

Another one of Truex’s teammates, Kyle Busch, is someone that continues to make an impact in all three series. Kyle was the 14th driver to become a triple threat, which he did in September 2005. He has since gone on to compile 214 wins across all three series and win the Cup championship twice. Busch has also swept an entire three-race weekend at Bristol two separate times in his career (2010 and 2017).

The victory at Bristol Motor Speedway did not mean anything in terms of points considering that Truex was only making his first Truck Series start since 2006. However, the win added yet another accomplishment to his resume. The 2017 Cup Series champion now has 42 total victories in his career, split between all three seasons.