Martin Truex Jr. has not won a points event in the NASCAR Cup Series since the fall race at Richmond Raceway in 2021; however, there was major optimism entering the 2023 Daytona 500.
Truex was two weeks removed from winning the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum and looked to have regained his mojo from the years before the NextGen car. Unfortunately for the No. 19 team, it has been a slow start to the 2023 NASCAR season with only one top-10 finish.
Fast forward to last Sunday and Truex was in position to win the Cup Series race at Richmond before a late caution threw away a potential victory. The driver of the No. 19 car finished in 11th place and it created a fiery exchange on the radio between him and crew chief James Small.
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Martin Truex Jr. and crew chief James Small share fiery exchange on radio after Richmond
It was looking good for Truex at Richmond Raceway before a late race caution ruined a potential victory. The No. 19 car only had six-lap scuff tires as the drivers around him had four fresh sticker tires.
Due to Richmond’s ability to degrade tires, it was a huge disadvantage for Truex as he eventually fell to 11th place. Another good race did not receive its intended result but this was due to a poor strategy call that put him in this position.
After the race, Truex went on the radio and called the ending of the race “pitiful.” This came after Truex radioed to his team that all of his tires were flat with five to six laps to go. However, this was due to poor communication.
Small told Truex that his car had scuffs because they had no more sticker tires left. Truex was not happy and told him that he never said his No. 19 car was on scuffed tires. He had no idea what was happening to the car.
Then, Small told Truex that it was not worth telling him that he was on scuffed tires because they were already in a bad spot. There was no response from the 42-year-old driver as he brought the car back to pit road in 11th place.
There were multiple expletives thrown out by each party as yelling occurred. It was not a great conversation as Truex did not receive word that he was on scuffed tires, as stated above.
Truex is currently on a 51-race winless streak and the constant struggle of closing out a race has been a major factor. The 42-year-old driver has made mistakes himself so it is not all on the No. 19 team.
NASCAR saw Truex win the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum so it is not like he can’t win races anymore. He has been in position to win many times over the last year, including the 2022 Daytona 500 and the last race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Something is just not clicking on the No. 19 team right now. It has been a drastic change after finishing second or better in the point standings four out of five seasons before the start of the NextGen car era in 2022.
With retirement on his mind, Truex needs to turn it around fast or he could represent another NASCAR champion leaving the sport sooner rather than later.