The odds were in favor of Martin Truex Jr. ahead of the Sonoma race and right until the end, it seemed like the bookies got it right. However, a lack of fuel caused the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to lose several places on the final lap and it was like a scene out of the Cars movie as he slowly crossed the finish line in P27 to raucous applause from the crowd. The driver, however, was not happy at all.
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It has been a frustrating season for the 2017 Cup Series champion as he still hasn’t booked his place in the playoffs this year. After the race, Truex expressed his disappointment at not attempting to save some gas to see out the race. As soon as Kyle Larson passed him, the veteran knew that his chance of visiting Victory Lane was gone.
“I was clearly not going to catch the 5 or pass him. It’s a shame that we went around the last corner and went from second to wherever we finished. It sucks, but it was a tough day, and we had a good car. We battled and did a good job. We were going to have a good day, but just one corner short,” he said.
Martin Truex Jr coasts across the line after running out of fuel and the crowd goes wild! pic.twitter.com/ix4c1m12sD
— Rubbin is Racing (@rubbinisracing) June 9, 2024
There was visible confusion over what happened in the #19 crew as they believed that they had enough to see out the race.
Confusion over fuelling takes hold of the #19 garage
Crew chief James Small cut a dejected figure after the race as he tried to make sense of what happened. There will be a big inquiry at Joe Gibbs Racing because fuelling the car enough to see out the race is one of the most basic things expected from a team of such stature and caliber.
“No. We thought we were at least half a-lap to the good there and obviously we were about a…I don’t know, an eighth of a lap short. So yeah, not ideal,” Small said in an interview. It has been a tough couple of weeks for the #19 team and it will be interesting to see how they bounce back at Iowa.
