Martin Truex Jr threw in the towel mid-race as NASCAR dealt a major blow to his championship dream

Martin Truex Jr, at one point, seemed like the strongest candidate to win the Cup Series title. The driver of the No. 19 Camry was in top form throughout the regular season, helping him win the regular season championship. But his performance since the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona has dropped significantly and the 2017 Cup champion has been unable to recover no matter how hard he tries. Ultimately, he gave up his title claims after a costly mistake in Martinville on Sunday.

It’s amazing how quickly things went downhill for Truex Jr. Frankly, the only reason he made it to the round of 16 was the 15 bonus points he collected in the regular season. But it was never going to be enough to take Truex Jr to the Phoenix.

The moment that dashed Martin Truex Jr’s championship hopes

However, before the Martinsville race, Martin Truex Jr seemed to have regained some form. Despite abandoning in Miami (which probably caused his loss), the Joe Gibbs Racing The driver burned the field to take pole position at Martinsville. The No. 19 team had a golden opportunity to book their spot in Phoenix but alas, even the most experienced drivers sometimes end up making the most basic mistakes.

Truex Jr. was a real contender for victory at Martinsville. Starting from pole, he led 47 laps and was one of the top three cars in the first stage. But his loss came in the second stage. The JGR driver was penalized by NASCAR for speeding in pit lane. This effectively put him out of contention for the win.

The veteran was absolutely deflated when he was told the harsh news. So much so that he even gave up trying to make up places from that point on. It must have been extremely difficult given how good he was before charging into the pits. In the end, he was only able to finish P12.

"Sorry guys," the former Cup Series champion said on team radio after receiving the penalty. He had been so good in the regular season and to see it all collapse in the space of a few weeks, it’s hard to imagine what he’s going through.

This shows how difficult it is to be a Cup Series driver. In the post-race interview, Truex Jr admitted how difficult the sport was and that he was absolutely devastated by the way things went.

Martin Truex Jr. deplores poor execution as he leaves Martinsville with discouragement

“Very disappointed. I mean, I thought I was in full speed coming out of that box. Obviously we were going too fast, so we have something to watch out for. It’s devastating. It’s racing , ” Martin Truex Jr. said according to RACER magazine.

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The JGR veteran looked back on his topsy-turvy season which saw him rise to the top only to have it fall in the worst possible way. The No. 19 Camry was very fast, but his and the team’s execution was the biggest problem toward the end.

“Man, I think it shows how tough this sport is. Everybody that races here and the guys that raced here and do the broadcasts, they’ll tell you, it’s so close, man. You find this little piece and suddenly you look like a hero. Some other guys find things, so you don’t find them anymore. We’ve been quick at times, but the execution hasn’t been solid, hasn’t been consistent. We had bad luck. We ate a little bit of everything. » Truex Jr added.

Now is the time to look to the future for those who didn’t make it to Phoenix. Martin Truex Jr will have the opportunity to challenge the reigning champion next year. We can be sure that the veteran will learn from his mistakes and come back stronger.

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