Martin Truex Jr is not taking any chances. The regular season champion has received endless criticism from all corners of the racing community after his performance derailed in the playoffs. Truex faced multiple issues, ranging from his #19 Toyota to pit road delays and inadvertent collisions. But all that was about to change.

Or so the Joe Gibbs Racing driver assured prior to the Round of 8 race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. While Rick Hendrick’s pallbearers dealt with misfortunes, Joe Gibbs’ faltering star blew on his dice for luck before rolling it across the playoff wheel.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s champion survived unscathed from the Hendrick Motorsports Vegas fiasco

For the second straight year of the Next Gen stock car model, Goodyear continues to make headlines for all the wrong reasons. After multiple tire failures last season, the tire manufacturers had promised substantial alterations, particularly for the playoff season this year. Despite that, Cup drivers were plagued with tire troubles, especially in the 1.5-mile tracks of Kansas and Texas.

In a disappointing addition to that strand, Hendrick Motorsports‘ championship contenders suffered from tire woes at the practice session of the South Point 400 this Sunday. Both playoff drivers, Kyle Larson and William Byron, experienced discomfort when they practiced and tire damage was immediately discovered on the pit road. However, the owner’s title contender, Chase Elliott, was far less fortunate.

Only 15 laps in, the right rear tire of Elliott’s #9 Chevrolet exploded, and the HMS driver crashed into the wall. The resulting damage prevented him from running the qualifying laps before the race. He would now have to start at the bottom of the grid along with his fellow Chevrolet driver, Daniel Suarez. Suarez also wrecked his #99 Trackhouse Racing Chevy after its tire gave out during practice.

Thankfully for Martin Truex Jr, his #19 Toyota Camry stayed faithful to his driver’s desire to make a strong comeback through the Las Vegas race. In an interview with Fronstretch, the 2017 champion was asked how he felt about his tires in light of the problems endured by the Chevrolet cars. Determined to leave no stone unturned in this Round of 8, Truex tapped the side of his head for good luck and replied, “No, no, our tires are great. Knock on wood.”

In this challenging battle against his playoff rivals and his own inconsistent form, Martin Truex Jr could use all the luck that Vegas has to offer.

Watch this story: Martin Truex Jr’s Playoff Hopes Dim as Joe Gibbs Racing Struggles

Martin Truex Jr is turning over a new leaf to regain old form at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

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The latter half of this season has not been kind to Martin Truex Jr. From accumulating the highest playoff points in the regular season to having the worst average finish of 21.3 among all playoff contenders, the #19 driver quickly lost favor in the eyes of the racing community. But each new round is a fresh start and the #19 driver is well aware of that.

His earlier playoff points came in handy for a second-place standing despite not finishing in the Top 15 in the previous 6 races. Additionally, the #19 driver has the highest average finish (10) on this 1.5-mile track amid the eight playoff racers. Besides, it will only take one race to attain his earlier dominance.

As the Joe Gibbs driver rightly pointed out, “These last six races are done and over with and we’ve turned the page so started this weekend off good, we had a great day today in practice and qualifying and that’s all you need to get things going.” For Martin Truex Jr, there is no better place than Vegas to hit the Championship 4 jackpot.

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