Which Winless Streak Ends Next?

1. Who is After MTJ?

A 54-race winless streak in points events ended Monday afternoon (May 1) with Martin Truex Jr. taking the checkered flag at Dover Motor Speedway.

Truex can breathe easier not only with the win, but also with the playoff berth that comes with it.

With the weight of that drought gone for Truex, the focus now turns to which driver has the best chances of snapping their winless streak next. Two of the longest winless droughts belong to a pair of drivers highly capable of getting back on track with a victory very soon.

You can’t talk winless streaks without first mentioning Ryan Blaney. It has now been 57 points events since he last visited victory lane. There is too much good driving ability and too many resources from Team Penske for that streak to last long, and we’ve now seen two races in a row with Blaney finishing top three. Running up front is not an issue for the No. 12 team. They just need all the pieces to fall at the right time.

You can’t discount Brad Keselowski as being on track to end a winless drought either. It’s one thing for RFK Racing to run strong at plate tracks, but they have shown they can do likewise at other layouts, as seen from this past race at Dover and even Chris Buescher‘s win last year at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The honeymoon phase is over for Keselowski, and with the No. 6 coming off two top 10s in a row, the snapping of a winless streak going back 73 races is not a matter of if, but when.

Is Suarez Falling Short of Expectations?

Expectations can be a funny thing if you were to look at Daniel Suarez prior to last season. At the time, coming off of rides at Stewart-Haas Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, a top four and four top-10 finishes through the first few months would have been serviceable.

But expectations can sure change perspective, and Suarez is a case of that, coming off last year when he got his first win and advanced to the postseason for Trackhouse. That performance raised the expectation of what Suarez could be capable of. The trouble with expectations? You have to continue to feed that monster, and Suarez has yet to do that so far this season.

His average finish through 11 races of 18.9 rates fourth in his seven-year career in the NASCAR Cup Series so far. Obviously, the sky is not falling for Suarez.

With road courses on the horizon, an area of strength for him, the opportunity is golden for Suarez to right things. He did, after…