Ah, how times have changed.

Just last spring, Martin Truex Jr. had to be content with a ninth-place finish at Pocono, the second of only five top-10 finishes he would collect the entire season. This year, however, a mere top-10 showing will fall short of the satisfaction No. 78 is searching for at Pocono.

Currently second in the points standings, Truex is having a standout season by any standard of measure. In 13 starts, he’s finished outside of the top-10 only once, including a stretch of seven straight top 10s to start the season. He has already led more laps in 2015 (389) than he has in all but two total seasons throughout his 12-year NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career, and more than any driver this year not named Kevin Harvick (1,123), Kurt Busch (659) or Joey Logano (464).

Although the most important column on Truex’s stat sheet remains empty (he hasn’t won since Sonoma in 2013), history suggests he’ll eventually reap the rewards of running up front as long as he can keep up the pace. In the past 25 seasons, only one driver (Jeff Gordon, 2010) has finished a full season top-four in laps led without having a win to show for it.