Martin Truex Jr’s afternoon is over at Phoenix Raceway, after his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry blew a right-front tire exiting turn two, pounding into the outside wall.
The winner of last Spring’s event at Phoenix Raceway entered the weekend second-place in point standings but had struggled to run inside the top-10 throughout the majority of the event.
TROUBLE FOR TRUEX!
The defending winner of this race pancakes the outside wall after blowing a right front tire. He was the highest running Toyota at the time of the impact.
A tough weekend for @JoeGibbsRacing continues.#NASCAR #RuoffMortgage500 pic.twitter.com/VtnLOHH01c
— NASCAR on TSN (@NASCARonTSN) March 13, 2022
In a post-race interview with FOX, Truex says that he didn’t have any indication that the right-front tire was going down.
“We had been getting really loose all day on the longer runs,” Truex said. “Just out there trying to take care of it there. We had gained a few spots on the restart and were just trying to take care of the rear tires. I don’t know. Coming off of two there, was neutral free and all of a sudden it shot straight into the fence. Must’ve cut a right front there running in the glue or something.”
Truex would be relegated to a 35th-place finish, earning just two points on the afternoon.
