BRISTOL, Tenn: Martin Truex Jr. had a strong enough race car that could have easily seen him advance to the Round of 12 beginning next weekend at Kansas Speedway, but an untimely speeding penalty on Lap 333 of 500 not only kept the Joe Gibbs Racing driver from a good finish but eliminated the team from the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs following Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Restarting the race at the rear of the field on Lap 337, the race went 163 green flag laps to the finish, with Truex eventually being overtaken by Kyle Larson to put Truex a lap down.
Without the beneficiary of a free pass or attrition, Truex finished 24th, the last car one lap down and 21 points behind Daniel Suarez, the final position in 12th to advance in the Cup Series Playoffs.
Before Truex was penalized for being .09 miles per hour over the speed limit, Truex had finished fourth in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2, earning 16 stage points between the two segments – raising him above the cutline and a fast enough race car to challenge for a top-five finish.
However, once Truex found himself mired back in traffic, the handling of his race car changed dramatically, and he even failed to gain a single spot on the race track that would give him a No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry an opportunity to recover.
Truex was joined by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Brad Keselowski, and Wood Brothers Racing’s Harrison Burton as the four drivers eliminated following the opening Cup Playoff Round of 16.
After the race, Truex took responsibility for his fifth speeding penalty of the season but also admitted he did not know if his hard work rising above the cutline during the opening two stages would be enough to propel him forward to the next round without the penalty.
“We had a good Bass Pro Shops Camry. 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.,” said Truex.
“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. Can’t do anything right. .09 mph hurts really bad to take the chance away to know if we even could have done it. I don’t know if we could have run second – maybe.”
Truex’s bid to earn his NASCAR Cup Series championship title will come up short. The 44-year-old veteran will retire from full-time driving at the conclusion of the season at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway.
“We were close to it – all day – but in the end, it doesn’t matter. I feel terrible for my guys,” added Truex.
His replacement, Playoff driver Chase Briscoe, finished eighth in Saturday night’s race and will propel his Stewart-Haas Racing team into the Round of 12, which includes Kansas, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL.
Follow Chris Knight on X (Twitter) @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
