Before the weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, [autotag]Martin Truex Jr.[/autotag]’s last top-5 finish came at Michigan International Speedway in August 2023. It was a rough stretch of events for Truex, who won the 2023 NASCAR regular-season championship and struggled in the playoffs. However, that streak ended at Bristol on Sunday with a second-place finish to Denny Hamlin.
Following the event, Truex talked about the tire management needed due to the extreme wear at Bristol and finishing in second place. While it was disappointing to come up short, the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion was upbeat about his No. 19 Toyota.
“Apparently that’s what I needed to have happen here at Bristol to have a shot at winning,” Truex said. “Yeah, I don’t know. Just really proud of our team, everybody on our Auto Owners Camry, Bass Pro, TRD, all of our partners. [crew chief James Small] and the guys did a great job this weekend, Jazzy, having a plan coming here. Yeah, I guess this tire management thing fit into my wheelhouse here at Bristol.”
MONDAY MTJ. Retweet to congratulate Martin Truex Jr. on his WIN at Dover! pic.twitter.com/WzqnT3EAgP
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 1, 2023
“Man, the difference was just coming out of the pits so far behind [Denny Hamlin]. I had to use mine up more on the last run. The last four, five laps of the race, was cord. I gave it a hell of an effort. Congrats to them…Our Toyotas are working really well right now. Had a lot of fun today. Wish we could have come up one spot. Short on second. Good run for us. It’s been a great season for us.”
Truex registered his best finish of the 2024 NASCAR season, and if the Toyota camp continues to have this success, he will have plenty more good finishes. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Joe Gibbs Racing driver win his race of the season soon, with Richmond and Martinsville coming soon. Truex needed that result to carry momentum as he pushes for a victory.
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