Martin Truex Jr Blames Chase Elliott for Depriving Him of His Victory After Out-Maneuvering Denny Hamlin

Martin Truex Jr, sitting second within the standings, rolled into Kansas with a stable common end of 12.6 and managed to complete P4 with out main even a single lap. While Kansas Speedway is normally his stomping floor for top-10 finishes—final yr’s September race being the exception—he was gunning for a greater spot this time, perhaps even a win. Unfortunately, one other mayhem on the final lap threw a wrench in these plans. Admitting his slip-ups, Truex additionally pointed a finger at Chase Elliott, suggesting that the American performed an element in him not having the ability to catch as much as Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher within the race’s last moments.

Martin Truex Jr and Chase Elliott’s sprint for third place practically resulted in a four-wide end on the line

Martin Truex Jr. thought he had a shot at catching Denny Hamlin if not for a late warning disrupting the circulate. He had opted for 4 tires simply earlier than the ultimate restart, which put him at a drawback since fewer drivers took two tires than he hoped. Truex defined, “If there was no caution, I could have caught them quickly. He [Denny Hamlin] was obviously going to run out of fuel from what they told me, I don’t know, but, they said he couldn’t make it, so I don’t know what uh, yeah, easily was gonna pass him, but uh, it doesn’t matter because it gotcha came out.”

Reflecting on the ultimate lap, Truex stated, “I just needed to get clear of the #11 and the #9 of the 2. I got the #9 [Chase Elliott] but he crossed me back over and then we got side by side into three and it made me real tight. If I could have cleared him off a two and I could have shot the bottom on the #5 and the #17 because they were banging in each other up the hill. I think I could have got him. But I had the #9 under me and he was… you know, I couldn’t turn down the racetrack and I was tight back there. I don’t know. They didn’t win a race, so it wasn’t the right call, but… I don’t know. I don’t think anyone expected that many to do too for a long run like that.”

The race was a wild one, that includes 27 lead modifications throughout 10 completely different drivers. Kyle Larson snatched his second win of the season. But his shot at victory solely materialized after a late warning threw the race—led by Denny Hamlin on the time—into additional time. Hamlin was first out of the pits, however Chris Buescher blasted forward on the restart. Larson caught up simply as they zoomed out of Turn 2 on the final lap, setting the bottom for a nail-biting sprint to the end.

Larson simply edged out Buescher by a mere 0.0001 seconds at Kansas Speedway, whereas Martin Truex Jr from JGR missed his first win of 2024 by solely 0.075 seconds in a heart-stopping four-wide end. Truex, who kicked off from thirteenth, made a gentle push by way of the pack, ultimately discovering himself proper behind his teammate Hamlin in direction of the tip, because of completely different pit-stop methods. However, a warning with lower than 10 laps remaining led to a different spherical of pit stops and a frantic green-white-checkered end, the place they ended up fourth and fifth.

It appears just like the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is getting fed up with these late cautions which have been costing him win after win.

The #19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver “frustrated” concerning the final warning

The #19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver was on Denny Hamlin’s tail through the closing laps of the CreationHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday night time. Truex had sliced by way of the sector to safe second place because the quickest automobile on the observe, however then the warning got here out due to a spin by Kyle Busch with simply seven laps left.

Truex fell to P10 after choosing 4 tires through the last warning, whereas 9 different automobiles selected simply two tires and jumped forward of him. Despite the Martin Truex Jr’s Toyota making a number of passes, the race kicked again into gear with only a two-lap sprint to the end, and Truex might solely claw his approach again to fourth.

“I don’t know, just frustrating. We were looking really good until that last caution, as always. I don’t know what we need to do to close one out, but the guys did a good job with our Auto-Owners Camry. We were in position to steal one there. Definitely had the best car, but fought hard all night, made good decisions and made the car better and better. That was great, but always stinks when you see the lead and can’t get it,” Truex vented. 

Even his crew chief, James Small, admitted he hadn’t anticipated so many drivers to go for 2 tires on that final pit cease. But one factor’s for positive—if one other warning had led to at least one extra restart, Martin Truex Jr might need been the one taking the checkered flag.