BRISTOL, Tenn. – 29 NASCAR Cup Series races down this season and Martin Truex Jr. is still winless.
Even though Truex and his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team aren’t a part of this year’s Cup Series Playoffs, the team had hoped to propel Truex into Victory Lane in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Truex’s efforts, however, were denied when he encountered a power steering issue behind the wheel of his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, sending him to the garage and out of the race 198 laps complete of the 500-lap race.
Truex wasn’t the only Toyota driver to experience a power steering issue which left the 31-time Cup Series winner critical of the NexGen car and its parts durability after the 23XI Racing cars of Bubba Wallace and Ty Gibbs experience similar issues within a total span of 20 laps of each other.
“Yeah, it blew the seal out and pushed all the fluid out on the right front tire,” said Truex after climbing from his car. “Just unbelievable. What (Kevin) Harvick say? Crappy parts.
“You literally can’t drive the car here without power steering. You lose it, you’re done.”
Truex said he was concerned about the power steering issue for a variety of reasons.
“I’m concerned, I’m out of the race,” Truex added. “Bass Pro Shops night race and we have the Bass Pro Shops Toyota here and we’re sitting in the garage.
“It’s been a horrible string of luck for us, and we had another strong car tonight. We were working our way forward, every run going forward.”
After winning four races last season, Truex heads to Texas Motor Speedway next weekend looking for his first win since Richmond (Va.) Raceway in the fall of 2021.
This season, Truex has just four top-five finishes with seven races remaining. He has finished a season-high fourth twice at Richmond Raceway (Spring) and most recently at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July.
Truex, though isn’t focused on the rest of the year, he’s already in deep though about 2023.
“Ready for this year to be over and start over,” Truex added.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
