Ahead of the playoffs, Martin Truex Jr. had extremely high hopes of winning the 2023 Cup Series title. However, as the ball began to roll, so did his performance woes. Race after race, he would find himself in a difficult spot, only barely managing to make the next round.
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While the points buffer did come in handy to remain second in the standings, the round of eight starting this weekend will not be as kind to him as the ones prior. If the JGR driver has any plans to get into the championship four a win or running in the top of the field is an utmost priority.
Meanwhile, after his race at the Charlotte Roval where he finished 20th, Truex was quizzed regarding his situation going forward. During the interview, he delivered a rather candid response to his playoff position, despite not having an admirable race at the Roval.
Martin Truex Jr. responds to his playoff situation following another poor race
After finishing in the top 20s, Truex Jr. said, “I didn’t create the system. We used it to our advantage. That won’t get us through the next one. The next one, you’ve got to be running up front.”
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver then elaborated, “Two winners of the next three races are probably going to be playoff guys that are still going. Need to turn it up and we need to figure it out quickly.”
Time seems to be running out for Truex Jr. With each passing race, his performance seems to be dipping. If he isn’t able to turn around the situation in the remaining three races, it’d be game over for his championship hopes, despite such a good run early on which earned him the regular season title.
Truex Jr’s Crew chief is confident for the road ahead
As per NBC Sports, crew chief James Small stated, “One week it’s one issue, one week it’s another.” Despite the circumstances, he wished to look at what was to come rather than spend his time thinking about what had already transpired.
He further added, “I 100% think we can go on and achieve what we need to and get to Phoenix and we have a one-in-four chance then. It’s up to us to execute. Hopefully, we can do it.”
It’s good to have confidence in the road leading to the championship four at Phoenix next month. At the moment if this streak of performances continues in the next three races, the JGR driver can forget about moving forward.
