Truex Jr. Eliminated From NASCAR Cup Playoffs in Bristol
Sadly, Martin Truex Jr.’s sunset run into retirement from full-time racing will be relegated to a potential spoiler role as opposed to a NASCAR Cup Series champion.
On Sept. 21, Truex finished 24th in the Bass Pro Shops Night race at Bristol Motor Speedway, eliminating him from the Cup Series playoffs.
“You never like to let anybody down, no matter what the situation,” Truex said immediately following the race. “I hate that I did that tonight.”
Truex’s sub-20 finish was cemented and soured by a speeding penalty on pit road, when he was flagged for being 0.09 mph over the limit on lap 333 during the final caution. The violation knocked him into 26th for the final restart and onto the other side of the playoff bubble.
Heading into the race 16 points out of the 12th position that would have solidified his advancement into the next playoff stage, the No. 19 Toyota was good enough through the first two-thirds of the race, as Truex racked up 16 stage points while running in second behind eventual winner Kyle Larson, who dominated the race with 462 of 500 laps in the lead.
However, following the speeding mishap, the Stafford Township native had a hard time maneuvering forward, climbing just two positions the rest of the way.
“It’s really tough when it’s 0.09 mph that screws up your chance at a good season. I don’t know how that happened. I didn’t even know I was that close. I feel like I did the same thing as every other stop,” Truex said. “It’s on me, obviously. It’s my mistake. They said we were going to have to run second or third to have a chance. I don’t know if we could have done it, but it would have been nice to see.”
Clearly disappointed with his finish at Bristol, Truex tried to shed some positive light on what remains for the rest of the season, comprised of seven more races.
“It’s just really sad for my guys. They work so hard,” he said. “We had a really strong car tonight and we got a lot of stage points, did what we needed there, but I hate I screwed it up. I wish we could have, at least, seen if we could have done it. It would have been fun to have a fighting chance. From here, we’ll just go on and try to race hard, and hopefully get back to Victory Lane before it’s all said and done.”
Now in 14th place overall in the driver standings, Truex has yet to see Victory Lane this season. He’s been among the top five just four times.
