Ex-JGR Teammates Martin Truex Jr. And Kyle Busch Unite Against Common Enemy in NASCAR

Racing at the superspeedways has evolved over the years. Instead of the older approach of the drivers stomping on the accelerator as hard as they can to put on a show for the fans, many teams prefer to wait till the closing laps of the race before they can finally put their feet to the metal. This is a step toward spending less time on the pit road and also toward ensuring fuel efficiency. However, Martin Truex Jr. still believes in the older-school approach and so does his ex-JGR teammate, Kyle Busch.

During the pre-race interview at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Richard Childress Racing driver expressed how frustrated he was with the speed the entire pack was running last week at Daytona International. Being a racecar driver who just wants to be fast, lead laps, and win races, driving at half-throttle just felt “disgraceful”. “It was pathetic…I was like, how slow are we gonna go? I felt bad for the fans, this is not good for them. It is not what I wanted to be doing,” exclaimed Rowdy.

Kyle Busch obviously wasn’t a fan of the style of fuel-mileage racing early in the Daytona 500. pic.twitter.com/Ie4ESnud5N

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) February 24, 2024

Truex Jr. pulled no punches, admitting that he hates fuel-mileage racing. He even revealed that his team had lost races due to the fuel-mileage technique. “I hate fuel mileage racing. I’ve never liked it. I’ve lost a lot of races on fuel mileage in my career; never won one of them…well maybe one time, we might have squeaked one out at Watkins Glen but aside from that fuel mileage has bit us a lot…so not a big fan. I like to go race hard,” was his blunt reply.

Legendary NASCAR drivers to rally behind fuel-mileage racing

Back in 2011 at New Hampshire, Gordon was leading laps and was in a position to win, until he ran out of fuel and had to make a very slow pit stop, which had him lose position and finish the race fourth. Indeed, fuel-mileage racing could have saved the day for Gordon.

Naming it as the name of the game, Gordon said, “Somehow we misjudged how far we could go on that second-to-the-last run and we ran out … we didn’t feel like we were even close to running out, so it just shows you how important every little detail is.” According to him, fuel conservation is “something that we need to be better at.”

It’s not just the drivers who play a part in this technique. The entire crew, including the engineers, work day in and day out to come up with tricks to stretch how much a car can go on a single tank full of gas. Even Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson said, “This year I think we’ll see fuel mileage play a larger role in the championship than we have in years past.” Needless to say, his prediction has come true not just for 2011 but has continued to be true in 2024 as well.