Sunday’s race in Watkins Glen proved to be a disastrous outing for a majority of the Cup Series playoff drivers. Only two of the 16 finished inside the top 10 as the others fought tooth and nail in the late restarts to get the better of each other. The attempts ended up causing more harm than benefit with the field stacking up at multiple points. Martin Truex Jr., for one, is frustrated with this type of racing.
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He expressed his anger to NBC Sports after the race and said that he didn’t know how his fellow drivers could call themselves the “best in the world” and be driving so irresponsibly under caution. With 11 laps left in the race, Harrison Burton forced a yellow flag after his car suffered a flat tire. With 7 laps to go, the flag came out once again after William Byron and Brad Keselowski crashed.
On yet another restart with 3 laps to go, Kyle Larson blocked the field going into Turn 2, and multiple cars stacked up behind him. Among those who caught the outside wall were Truex Jr., Josh Berry, and Austin Cindric. Drivers then continued to play bumper tag with each other until the checkered flag flew. Watching all this play out as he brought the No. 19 in at 20th place has left the veteran exhausted.
“I’m outta here”
Martin Truex Jr is very much ready for retirement pic.twitter.com/LAE3Ed8vlh
— BrakeHard (@BrakeHardBlog) September 15, 2024
His words went, “I don’t really understand how guys can call themselves the best in the world when they just drive through everyone on restarts at the end of these races. It’s very frustrating but it is what it is these days, so I’m out of here.” It is hard not to perceive this as a veiled attack on Larson considering his growing reputation as the “best in the world”.
Where does Truex Jr. stand after a poor race at the Glen?
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has never had a season as bad as his current one in the past few years. He was already in danger of not qualifying for the next playoff round coming into the Glen and left the track 14 points below the elimination line. The Bristol race is a must-win one for him in this scenario.
Reaching the victory lane has just seemed impossible to do for the No. 19 team this year. The last time it reached the top 5 was back in May in Kansas. Truex Jr. has finished 20th or worse in 11 of the last 14 races. This includes a running streak of seven races outside the top 20.
The driver said of his misfortunes before the race, “Just a little bit frustrated with how things have gone lately. No matter what we do, it is wrong, and we can’t catch a break.” Every NASCAR fan will be hoping that he can garner a result worthy of his caliber at Bristol next weekend and walk out with his head held high.
