Martin Truex Jr. is currently out of a playoff spot with only three races remaining in the regular season.
Truex Jr. was feeling the pressure leading up to Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway, the JGR driver is positioned just below the playoff cutline in 17th place.
Kevin Harvick became the 15th different winner this season which is now the worst-case scenario for the Truex Jr.
Richard Childress gave shady response postrace when asked about his relationship with race winner Tyler Reddick
The No. 19 and his crew chief James Small had a contrast of view on race strategy and candidly communicated their disagreement over the team radio.
Kevin Harvick’s victory knocks Martin Truex Jr. out of the playoffs and puts Ryan Blaney in the last remaining spot with three regular-season races left.
Several restarts throughout the race, Truex consistently dropped back in the field early in the run, which obviously dishearten the No.19 driver and his team.
At the beginning of Stage 3, Truex Jr. and his crew chief James Small had an heated exchange.
Some major frustration on @MartinTruex_Jr 's radio. Crew chief @james_small is telling him to pit, despite having recently pit for fuel. Truex is frustrated about how his car behaves in traffic.#NASCAR | #RacingRefresh | #FirekeepersCasino400 | @MISpeedway
— StatChat – Racing Refresh (@StatChatRefresh) August 7, 2022
“We can’t pit again. We keep f****** pitting, we ain’t going anywhere,” Truex said. “And because it all went bad now you want to pit again and screw up the rest of the race. I’ve lost it where we’re at here. That’s all.”
“We’re f****** bad on restarts,” Small said. “Everybody else on the same strategy manages to keep going forward and we go backward with every restart.”
“We got to get as many as we can now,” the driver replied.
True Jr. who has made it to the playoffs five of the last six seasons, combated through an up-and-down day on the way to finishing sixth on Sunday.
Tried definitely needs a new crew chief. Ever since Cole Left he hasn’t been doing as well. His pit crew are slower . Hard to believe one man could make such a difference. Time to get a new crew chief because Martin is still a great driver.
Martin is good driver needs new crew chief. Better car
Martin is a good driver needs new Crew Chief. I will always behind him,he is my driver.