“We’re kind of in a weird zone”: Martin Truex Jr. opens up on Toyota’s engine woes, his playoff situation

NASCAR driver Martin Truex Jr. shared his thoughts his continuous struggle with the Toyota engines. Truex Jr. is in his last full-time season in the Cup Series, following his retirement announcement earlier this year.

The 2017 Cup Series champion is in his fifth full-time season with Joe Gibbs Racing, driving the #19 Toyota. With 675 Cup Series starts, Truex Jr. has secured 34 victories, including his most recent win in July 2023 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Additionally, he is a two-time Xfinity Series champion and a two-time winner of the prestigious Coca-Cola 600.

Truex Jr. finished in the top five at the Toyota Owners 400 earlier this year and was looking to improve last weekend in the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway. However, the #19 driver suffered an engine failure early in stage three.

In a recent interview with Frontstretch, Truex Jr. was asked about his views on the Toyota engine and his experience with the manufacturers. He said:

"Yeah I mean anytime you start having valve spring issues, you're kind of chasing a ghost you know. So um, they do a great job and our engines have been really good. We're kind of in that weird weird zone where I don't know what they had to change or whatnot but they'll get it figured out. They're very good at what they do," he said.

On being asked about his playoff situations, he said:

"We're certainly not in a great position you know whether we're in or not. I know what it feels like to have those points and how much they can mean you know[...]There's no room for errors, you have to be perfect and you have to have top three to five finishes every week," Truex Jr. added.

He is currently P8 in the drivers' standings, with 662 points and has 4 top-five finishes in 23 starts, with the best finish coming at Bristol Motor Speedway earlier in the season. However, the former champion is yet to secure a victory in the 2024 season.

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"It's frustrating" - Martin Truex Jr. opens up about engine failure at Richmond amid playoff chase

Martin Truex Jr. started the Cook Out 400 at Richmond on the front row, shared with JGR teammate Denny Hamlin, who secured pole position.

However, after running 250 laps of the race, the engine on his Toyota Camry XSE blew off, leading to his first DNF this season. Moreover, Truex Jr.'s car lost a tire on the pit road. Following the race, he spoke with "Frontstretch" about the incident and said,

"It was going really good until we had our issue on pit road with the tire falling off. That's kind of been the way our season's gone: run good, shoot yourself in the foot. We gotta clean those things up with three races to go till the playoff. If we're not careful we won't make it. We gotta be smart... It's frustrating," he said [at 1:05]

A three-time winner in Virginia, Truex Jr. had an unfortunate end to his last Cup race at Richmond Raceway.