"No matter what we do, it’s wrong" - Martin Truex Jr. reflects on frustrating struggles in final year

Martin Truex Jr. talked about how race weekends are not going as planned as he heads to retirement at the end of 2024. During a pre-race presser at Watkins Glen, Truex Jr. admitted being frustrated with how his season is going this far.

Graduated full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2006, Martin Truex Jr. is a 44-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver who won the 2017 championship title. He announced his retirement from full-time driving earlier this year.

Martin Truex Jr. was asked whether his imminent exit gives him a sense of urgency or “pissed off-ness”, given the challenging season he has been having.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I wouldn’t say pissed off, just a little frustrated about how things have gone lately," Truex Jr. said [1:54].

Truex Jr. continued by expressing his frustrations, saying:

“It’s like no matter what we do, it’s wrong and we can’t catch a break. So it’s been frustrating but, you know, guys are working hard, we’re trying hard."

The No. 19 JGR Toyota driver told reporters that he loves racing at Watkins Glen International, which is the second race of this year’s Round of 16.

“Big weekend here, this is a great place for me. I love coming up here and we put a lot of effort in so we’ll see how it turns out this weekend," the driver concluded [2:09].

Martin Truex Jr. qualified 2nd for Sunday’s race with a lap time of 1:12.264, just -0.134s off the leader Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro. The second row is secured by Shane Van Gisbergen and playoff contender Alex Bowman, respectively, with Austin Cindric rounding up the top 5 finishers in the qualifying session.

Every driver, including Truex Jr. will be running with a new Goodyear tire compound designed to fall off faster - approximately three seconds over the course of a run. That said, drivers starting at the front of the field will have a huge advantage over the 2.45-mile road course race.

Martin Truex Jr. got off to a bad start in the postseason opener in Atlanta

Martin Truex Jr. got into a racing incident with Ryan Blaney at the Quaker State 400 where his No. 19 Toyota collided with the No. 12 Ford Mustang at lap 205. The damage was so severe that the team had to call it a day and settle with a DNF in the playoff opener.

Meanwhile, Blaney carried on to finish P3 after dropping to P32 following the incident with Truex Jr.

The Toyota driver left Atlanta 15th in the playoff standings between Harrison Burton and Chase Briscoe. He is -19 below the cut line with only two races left before the first round of elimination.

With MTJ starting 2nd at Watkins Glen, he bested all 15 playoff drivers, with Bowman his closest rival in 4th. As such, he is in a good position to score good points and get back to playoff contention before the final Round of 16 race at Bristol next week.