Joe Gibbs Racing is soaring on the NASCAR points chart. This is partly due to Denny Hamlin, who recently secured his 54th career win in Dover. Yet his teammate Martin Truex Jr tops it off, standing 2nd on the drivers rank with 395 points. However, Truex’s podium finishes have narrowly escaped the trophy for quite some time now.
Most recently, Martin Truex Jr looked ready to conquer the Richmond race. Leading a race-high 228 of 400 laps, the veteran driver was poised to break his winless streak. However, Denny Hamlin threw a wrench in his plans just because of a faster pit stop. Now Truex was dethroned at Dover due to similar reasons and got emotional about his woes.
Martin Truex Jr lets sadness overcome him
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Martin Truex Jr had tamed the Monster Mile four times before. In his 2024 attempt, the No. 19 JGR driver led for 69 laps and hung around the front row for most of the race. After winning stage 1, his fortunes began to turn. The green flag pit stops caught him off-guard, as Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson bested him in stage 2.
Talking to the press post-race, Martin Truex Jr emphasized that pit stop debacle: “You know, we lost the lead there on the green flag cycle in stage 2. Once you lose control of the race, it’s difficult.”
Then a stage 3 damage to his car’s front did no better, and that ruined his winning fate. “I know we got some nose damage on the restart at the end of stage 3, that really killed our chances. Once that happened, we were done. We were gonna ride wherever they put us.”
Once @MartinTruex_Jr lost control of the race, it was all she wrote.
The No. 19 finished P3 at @MonsterMile.
🗣️ “Perfect car up front and you come out 2nd of 3rd and it’s plowing. I feel like every time we hit pit road we lose the lead or lose spots. It’s frustrating.” pic.twitter.com/pr69MNImqk
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) April 29, 2024
Then Martin Truex Jr let out a weary sigh on his Dover misfortune. “We were able to fortunately bring it home third. But it’s a shame that we had a car capable of winning today. Once we lost the lead, it really changed how our day went from there.”
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Due to pit woes and a damaged car, Martin Truex Jr could not defend last year’s Dover glory. He also could not continue an interesting Dover trend he had created.
No rain, no gain for MTJ
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Martin Truex Jr won his first Monster Mile race at Dover Motor Speedway in June 2007. The unique thing was that the race was postponed to a Monday due to rain. It only became more striking when the same instance occurred again twice. He won a regularly scheduled Sunday race in 2016, but in May 2019 and then last year, his rain alliance paid off.
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Hence NASCAR fans suspected that if Mother Nature yet again decides to bring a bout of showers in Dover, then Martin Truex Jr’s fifth Dover victory was a given. But as it turned out, MTJ and Mother Nature could not win this year. “Feel like we let one get away today,” Truex said after the Würth 400. “Man, just stinks. Overall a good day. Just keep working on it.”
However, with three top-five finishes this season, Martin Truex Jr may be inching closer to his season’s first victory really soon.
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