Martin Truex Jr Was at the Crux of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Implosion at Bristol; the Veteran Already in Retirement Mode

Martin Truex Jr.'s series of blunders continued at the recent Bristol Motor Speedway race. This time it has cost him the championship, which was his last chance to fight for a second title. The veteran previously announced his retirement this year. In his statement, he said, "It's been incredible. It's been a hell of a ride. I'm excited about the future, and I'm not really sure what that looks like yet." However, things are not going as he had hoped.

Going winless so far, the veteran had many opportunities to bounce back but failed to capitalize on them. Ever since the Indianapolis race, MTJ's season has been on a downward trajectory. In the six races since then, he's barely managed a top-20 finish, let alone a top-10. In what should have been MTJ's most focused season, he seems to be distracted. A NASCAR analyst has recently called the #19 out for not having his head in the game. After all, less than a mile-an-hour's speed made all the difference!

Martin Turex Jr's disappointing final season so far MTJ entered the Bristol race -14 points below the cutoff line, looking for his final chance for redemption. The hopes for a good finish were there since he started the race in P4. He managed a good track position throughout the first stage, finishing 4th. Knowing the importance of points, he managed to gain more positions in stage 2, where he finished 2nd. Until this point, his advancement to the next round seemed certain. However, it all went down the drain after lap 330, when he incurred a penalty for speeding in the pit lane. This led to him dropping behind the pack and eventually finishing 24th and a lap down, causing his elimination. With a similar penalty, his teammate, Ty Gibbs, was also eliminated.

Loading quiz... Post the race, Martin Truex Jr took responsibility for the mistake, he said, "We did good in the first two stages. We got a lot of points. I guess we would have had to run second or third to make it through who knows if we would have been able to. I wish we could have seen if we could have done that. I'm just gutted for my team. We worked so hard this week. We all put in a lot all season long, and in the last three weeks, just snake bit.

Speaking about the speeding penalty, MTJ said, "Can't do anything right. .09 mph hurts really bad to take the chance away to know if we even could have done it." What is surprising is the silliness of the mistake at such a crucial juncture of the race. On September 23, NASCAR analyst Eric Estepp in his video dwelled on how MTJ has lacked focus this year, the Bristol race is just another example of it.

Estepp said, "So I get it weird rules technicalities small things eliminating your driver in their final season it stings I can relate. But that being said, this is just the latest example of Martin Truex Jr losing his focus. I've been saying it for weeks. He has one eye on the lake already. He is halfway retired. We saw it at Darlington a few weeks ago. With that early crash we see it again here Martin is just not fully focused."

According to Estepp, MTJ hasn't shown the performance of a championship contender or even an ideal stock racer. "To be a great race car driver to battle the best stock car racers in the world for three-four hours a night, you need to be fully focused. So I'm not surprised Truex Jr got eliminated. I picked him to get eliminated in this first round. I am still sad though to see a future Hall of Famer career care more or less end with a whimper." MTJ's stats so far are proof enough of him not having the best season; rather, this could turn out to be his worst one.

Not the best season for Martin Truex Jr. The #19 barely made the playoffs in the 16th position after he crashed out at the Darlington race, which was the regular season finale. Hoping for a comeback in the playoffs, he suffered another DNF at the playoff opener in Atlanta. Next up was Watkins Glen, a track that is a stronghold for MTJ; in the last seven races, he managed five top-6 finishes. However, the race gods did not favor him this time; he lacked the pace and eventually finished 20th.

The 2024 season for Truex Jr. is shaping up to be like the 2022 one or even worse. The only difference is that he made it to the playoffs this year despite a poor season. In the 2022 season, he remained winless and managed an average finish of 14.94, which was his worst since 2014 (20.22). This year it's been worse than that so far; without any wins, his average finish stands at 17.97. The JGR driver has only bagged four top-5 finishes.

However, this should not diminish the morale of the future Hall of Famer. There are still seven races to go, and ending with a win will surely feel good. To his luck, the next race is Kansas, where MTJ has always shown consistent performance, even this year when he finished 4th there. In the last 15 races, MTJ has managed a top-10 finish on 13 occasions and seven top-5s, which is commendable. So that is one track to target for gaining a win.

What do you think are Truex Jr.'s chances to get a win this season? Let us know in the comments below.