Only two drivers suffered DNFs in last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the Richmond Raceway and one of them was Martin Truex Jr. The veteran race car driver has yet to win a race and was looking to do so at the Virginia short track but it was just not meant to be. The driver of the #19 car suffered an engine failure early in the third stage of the race and had to retire the car. Recently, Toyota Racing Development (TRD) president David Wilson spoke about the issues his drivers were having and it doesn’t sound positive.
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New Hampshire was the last place where a Toyota driver won a race as Christopher Bell took the checkered flag. Since then, it has been tough going for the Japanese automotive manufacturer in the sport. At Richmond, Truex broke his valve springs which forced him to withdraw from the event. Turns out that it was an issue that had taken place before as well. Wilson acknowledged the problem in a recent interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
“Over the past few weeks we have had some engine issues, that’s been troubling,” he said. “When Martin broke the valve spring Saturday night, it was…all the way back to Gateway that Christopher Bell had that underscored for us, “Okay, we do in fact have a trend and an issue with the valve springs.” We have been 24/7 on this issue,” he explained.
Outright speed is not the issue being faced by Toyota’s drivers this season. Last weekend, Denny Hamlin had a fantastic run as he finished in the top five at Richmond. He might have even won the race had it not been for Austin Dillon spinning him out in the final stretch of the final lap. However, consistency has been lacking from the Toyota cars, in stark contrast to what their road-going program is best known for.
Former Cup Series champion reaffirms his faith in Toyota
Despite the problems, Truex has full faith in Toyota to fix these issues and make them more competitive on track. The veteran race car driver might be in the playoff bubble on points but that could change in three races. He would want to have the best car possible heading into the final part of the season. However, that is not going to be possible if you’re having engine issues every other weekend.
“Yeah I mean anytime you start having valve spring issues, you’re kind of chasing a ghost you know. So um, they do a great job and our engines have been really good. We’re kind of in that weird weird zone where I don’t know what they had to change or whatnot but they’ll get it figured out. They’re very good at what they do,” he told Frontstretch.
The Cup race at Michigan was postponed to Monday after just 51 laps as weather conditions played spoilsport. Truex was in P2 when the red flag waved and he will be hoping to capitalize on his position when the race restarts from lap 52 this Monday morning.
