Engine issues for @MartinTruex_Jr!
The No. 19 has headed behind the wall. pic.twitter.com/MtEPxtS5i6
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 12, 2024
Martin Truex Jr. has been seemingly a virtual lock for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, despite not having a win, due to the amount of points he has accumulated during the 2024 regular-season. However, Truex’s Playoff hopes took a bit of a hit Sunday afternoon at Richmond Raceway.
On Lap 251, Truex, who had been competing near the front for the majority of the event, took his car to pit road with an ailing engine.
As he parked the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE to his pit stall, the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion was instructed to climb from his car and that his race would be over with the engine failure. Truex said there was no real warning before the engine started going south.
“No, it just hiccupped once down the backstretch, and then started missing,” Truex explained. “It’s like it broke a valve spring or something and then it just kinda self-disintegrated right there, self destructed really quickly. Yeah, I don’t know. Just one of them days.”
As a result of the latest Joe Gibbs Racing expired engine, Truex, who came into the day 108 points above the Playoff cutline, will be scored with a last-place finish in the 37-car field.
It’s a tough pill to swallow, and it looks like Truex’s seemingly safe point total, won’t be as safe as it seemed heading into the day. Truex will now need to hope for Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, and Bubba Wallace to not maximize their performances on the night.
