Martin Truex Jr. is a proven NASCAR Cup Series champion with three runner-up points finishes since then, but this year will be his last chance to become a multi-time Cup champion. Even after winning the regular season title in 2023, it seems only misfortune has followed him.
“Just a little bit frustrated with how things have gone lately,” said Truex at Watkins Glen. No matter what we do, it is wrong, and we can’t catch a break. It has been frustrating, but the guys are working hard and a big weekend here. This is a good place for me, and I love coming up here. We put a lot of effort in, so we will see how it turns out this weekend.”
Martin Truex Jr, Joe Gibbs Racing, Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry
Photo by: Danny Hansen / NKP / Motorsport Images
Still winless and already in jeopardy of elimination after just one playoff race, he’s desperately hoping to turn things around this weekend. The bad news is that he enters The Glen 19 points below the cut-line, but the good news is that he qualified on the front row. But does he consider himself in a must-win situation yet?
“I really don’t know,” he admitted. “We will just have to see. It is obviously a bit of a hole to dig out of, so it is unfortunate last week that we got caught up in that and got some damage. I don’t know. We will just have to wait and see. We are going to try to win, but I think we will know more after this weekend is over.”
Looking for a little luck
Truex’s precarious position has nothing to do with a lack of speed, as he pointed out this weekend. He’s led nearly 500 laps this year, but pit road penalties, unforced errors, wrecks, and bad luck seems to plague him everywhere he goes.
“It is a lot of different things,” he explained. “You call it a slump — great players get in slumps in other sports, and that is what I feel like it is. I feel like we are doing a lot of good things — we have lot of speed and put ourselves in position, we just have to put it all together. Some days I make mistakes, some days the team makes mistakes, some days — last week we got caught up in an accident. There has been a lot of that. Just have to put it together on one day and hopefully that is this weekend.”
Martin Truex Jr. ended the regular season with a crash on the third lap of the Southern 500 at Darlington.
Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images
Watkins Glen is a track that has always been good to him. In truth, Truex has had a…
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