The hopes were burning for Joe Gibbs Racing after the race at Daytona, marking the closure of the regular season. The members of JGR couldn’t contain their excitement, as the dust settled and track lights glistened up the face of Martin Truex Jr. The veteran of NASCAR was the victor of the regular season championship. The driver was finally able to alter his fate from the past season and marked the resurgence of the 2017 Cup Series champion.

Owing to this fact, NASCAR pundits hoped that the JGR driver would be resembling a similar form in the playoffs, before finally lifting up the championship. However, it was evident that Truex failed to translate those results on the track of Darlington. On account of this, his teammate Denny Hamlin tried to unearth the reasons behind the disappointing results on his podcast Actions Detrimental.

Hopeful Hamlin looks forward to the next playoff races

The sun was shining on the brighter side for Joe Gibbs Racing ahead of the race on Sunday. It was Christopher Bell who had secured the pole position and had one of the fastest cars on the track, with the probability of scoring a victory. Bell’s teammate Denny Hamlin was blessed with elements that could churn out a victory, however, it was Martin Truex Jr who had to start from the rear of the field after a poor qualifying. It was hoped that the driver that the #19 Toyota driver would be able to fight his way back into the front.

However, the hard work was jinxed and went for a toss after a series of misfortune struck the three drivers and faltered to deliver a favorable result on Sunday. Moreover, Truex Jr. had to struggle with a loose car that tarnished and outdid his day. In lieu of this Hamlin expressed on Actions Detrimental, “You cannot make it up. You cannot pass these cars like you used to be able to. Coming from the back to the front, forget it.”

Speaking on the schedule of the next races, Hamlin stated, “I said after the race I didn’t care what the points are because I knew that we are fast enough to go on the pole the next two weeks and lead a lap and lead over stage, that’s how we approach a weekend and it doesn’t always work out that way. But I was not disappointed by not winning and we had a dominant car but then anything. I feel good where we are at.

“Kansas was the race that we won earlier this year, Bristol we always run well, and I feel pretty confident. I don’t think that there is anything earth-shattering that came out this weekend other than, Truex didn’t run very good. Did he have any damage to his car, he just did not run good.”

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Denny Hamlin tries to make a case for his teammate’s performance

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Both Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr struggled with their cars as they both finished outside the top 15. On account of which Hamlin divulged, “I was leading the race and the No.19 had an unscheduled stop, he was on fresher tires. He passed me to get his lap back. Then I just saddled the bumper, I was like why, he had a pretty good tire advantage and he is not running, like going anywhere.”

“And then we were battling for the lucky dog, after my car was destroyed, I was watching Truex he really wasn’t going really much of anywhere. Don’t know if they missed it or had damage that we didn’t see. But certainly kind of expected that he could drive through the pack similar to Larson and be a contender upfront, but didn’t see that. He is still in that good spot for sure.”

With that being said, it is to be seen whether the JGR trio will be able to turn the table at the next race in Kansas, or will they falter early into the playoffs.

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