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NASCAR America: Distractions may get the best of Martin Truex Jr.

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Martin Truex Jr. is third in the playoff standings, but his momentum from the regular season seems to be waning entering the Round of 8.

At the beginning of the season, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick swapped victories seemingly weekly. Martin Truex Jr. was close behind during most races, keeping the pair honest until these drivers became known as the Big 3.

In the first 20 races of the season, Truex recorded four victories and 14 top fives. Included in that early run was a span of four races in April when he failed to crack the top 10 a single time and finished outside the top 25 on three occasions.

In the last 12 races, Truex has no wins and only four top 10s. All of those were top fives, making Truex an all-or-nothing driver.

On Friday’s edition of NASCAR America, the analysts evaluated his potential to win this week at Martinsville (they are not encouraging) and what may be at the center of his current issues.

In early September, Furniture Row Racing announced they would cease operations at the end of 2018.

“We know what’s going on with that team,” Jeff Burton said. "(NASCAR America analyst) Steve Letarte keeps talking about how hard it is to keep everybody lined up, focused, paying attention to what’s at hand. And I think that’s going to become harder as these last four races continue.”

“Even if everyone knows where they’re going, it has to be a distraction,” Parker Kligerman added.

For more, watch the video above.

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