NASCAR Cup Series

Martin Truex Jr. could stand tall at Texas Motor Speedway

Published Apr. 10, 2015 6:50 p.m. ET

Jeff Hammond

Who's going to win Saturday night's Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway?

In watching the practice sessions at Texas, I've been real impressed with the speed and the consistency of Martin Truex Jr. We've been basically talking him up all year long because of six consecutive top-10 finishes in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet.

It just seems like they've had speed off the truck. They've been able to make the right calls on pit road as far as crew chief Cole Pearn is concerned.

Truex has to be one of the guys I'm looking at who's really itching to get to Victory Lane and go ahead and punch his ticket for the Chase.

And in saying so, he's got competition.

One of the great off-the-track pictures we got Friday was a little moment between Brad Keselowski and his teammate, Joey Logano. Those two guys at Team Penske look like they're having fun. These guys already have their tickets punched, and, oh by the way, Brad won the XFINITY race here in 2013 and Joey won the spring Cup race here a year ago, so these two Blue Oval drivers, I think, are going to be a thorn in the side of the Chevrolets that are running so strong.

Another guy who I think has got to have an opportunity has got to be Carl Edwards. He's back from an off-weekend where he had a chance to clear his head. Joe Gibbs Racing has fast race cars. They've been pretty consistent throughout practice, and I like what I'm seeing right now out of that group right there.

The rest of them? I think you can flip them up in the air.

Jimmie Johnson, for example. We know what his record is in November, when we come back here in the Chase, which is important. But to me, they struggle for whatever reason here in the spring, and I'm just not really too sure that even though his record is unbelievable, I think that he's probably one of those guys who once again hasn't totally sold me that he's got a race car that can run up front all night long and get it done.

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