[autotag]Martin Truex Jr.[/autotag] and the No. 19 team won the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship and it appeared that a run at a second title was on the way. Unfortunately for Truex, he failed to put together a good playoff run and was eliminated in the Round of 8 with only one top-10 finish in the last 10 races.
Ahead of Championship Weekend at Phoenix Raceway, [autotag]Joe Gibbs Racing[/autotag] owner Joe Gibbs talked about Truex and the No. 19 team. Gibbs was asked whether the No. 19 team would receive any changes for the 2024 NASCAR season after a rough playoff run and gave an honest answer.
“No, I think the thing about [Martin Truex Jr.], if you’re going to normally have issues and want changes, it would have started last year when we don’t win a race,” Gibbs said. “Martin, I tell you, that guy comes every single week, he never second-guesses stuff. He’ll be mad during the race, like anybody would be. He’s got a temper, all of that plays out.”
MONDAY MTJ. Retweet to congratulate Martin Truex Jr. on his WIN at Dover! pic.twitter.com/WzqnT3EAgP
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 1, 2023
“Honestly, during the weeks after that, some of the toughest things for that guy to have experienced in a race car, he does such a great job of keeping his balance with it. He never really, that I’ve heard it, second-guesses things.”
Many people have listened to the exchanges between Truex and crew chief James Small on the radio, and wonder why changes aren’t made. That is how the Joe Gibbs Racing duo operates. Overall, it was a good bounce-back year for the driver of the No. 19 car and the goal for the 2024 NASCAR season will be to keep the momentum going into the playoffs.
[lawrence-related id=3473]