"Pitstops were terrible, car was bad in traffic": Martin Truex Jr. disappointed post-Texas playoff race as #19 team fails to bounce back

Playoff woes continued for Martin Truex Jr. at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend as the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series regular series champion returned home with a 17th-place finish.

After barely managing to escape elimination in the first round, the Round of 12 provided a points reset to Truex Jr., which put him at the top of the table. However, the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver failed to overturn his fortunes in the first race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Martin Truex Jr. lined up 16th on the grid and didn't seem to have the front running pace displayed by teammate Denny Hamlin. He also lamented the terrible pit stops and the lack of track position, which affected his race.

"Pitstops were terrible, car was bad in traffic. It was just one of those days we had to find a way to get track position and we just couldn't and we were so slow," he said to Fox Sports.

Martin Truex Jr. spins on track

The #19 Toyota driver was also involved in an incident with Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski at the end of the first stage. As he dragged the car on flat-spotted tires it messed up the underbody, which he believed made the car slower and difficult to handle for the rest of his race.

"I thought we had a decent car before that and then almost got stage points, just was in a wrong place on that restart and I got held up," he added. "Overall I thought the car was close and then from there on we [broke] a bunch of stuff off the bottom or what, it was just really slow, really tight the rest of the day. And we lost track position, which completely killed us."

The regular season playoff points are keeping Martin Truex Jr. afloat as he occupies fifth place in the standings, 19 points above the cut-off mark.

---

Martin Truex Jr. hopes to fix playoff issues before Talladega

It has been a dreary playoff run for the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion, who has failed to register a top-10 finish in the first four races of the playoffs.

The next two races in the Round of 8 will be an even bigger challenge for Martin Truex Jr. as Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Roval are infamous for their chaotic nature. It's no wonder the #19 Toyota driver has a sense of urgency to fix their issues before heading to the second race.

“We’ve got to find a way to get it going,” Truex told NBC Sports. “We got to do it quick. Talladega is a crapshoot wildcard … the Roval, it’s a tough place, too, so these next two are going to be really tough.

“We really wanted to come out of here in a good position, and we just didn’t take advantage,” he added.

The Yellawood 500 Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled at 2:00 PM ET this Sunday, October 1.