Martin Truex Jr Scores NASCAR’s ‘One in a Million’ Record, Can He Make it ‘23.5 Million to One’ Record

At the Daytona International Road Course, Martin Truex Jr recorded his fifth consecutive third-place finish. The odds of that happening are nearly equal to the likelihood of a person being struck by lightning.

In other words, Truex had a ‘one in a million’ chance to record 5 back-to-back third-place finishes and he scored the incredible record. However, the 40-year-old cares little for such records and prefers the top step.

When he spoke to NBC after the race, he said, “Seems like third place is just where we’re at right now”. Even his crew chief James Small admitted that third place was frustrating because they never got close enough for the win.

On the bright side, third place is better than fourth or crashing, but it is not all fun.

ALSO READ- “Third Place is Just Where We’re at Right Now”: Martin Truex Jr Reflects on Daytona Race

Martin Truex Jr almost lost his streak

Admittedly, Truex worked hard to maintain his record but nearly squandered it at Michigan. Luckily, he held on to notch up his third consecutive third-place finish.

During the overtime restart, he found himself in 8th but managed to pass five cars on the first lap. Sadly, that was the best he could muster up as he came in behind runner-up Brad Keselowski and winner Kevin Harvick.

Ahead of the Dover race, Truex has a golden opportunity to break the streak or extend it to get a one in a 23.5 million to one record, according to assistant professor, Jeremy Losak.

Talking to NBC, he said, “The more simulations I run, the more accurate the number is. Given how unlikely an event this is to occur, if I didn’t run enough simulations, you would have a bunch fo times it would happen zero times.

“So I had to run the simulation enough times to get some times where it actually hit.”

He observed that Truex’s odds are higher compared to most drivers owing to a better record. Losak believes that most drivers stand a 4 million to one chance of grabbing a third-place finish for five consecutive races.

However, the chances of finishing third across six consecutive races are 23.5 million to one.

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