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

Martin Truex Jr, sitting second in the standings, rolled into Kansas with a solid average finish of 12.6 and managed to finish P4 without leading even a single lap. While Kansas Speedway is usually his stomping ground for top-10 finishes—last year’s September race being the exception—he was gunning for a better spot this time, maybe even a win. Unfortunately, another mayhem on the last lap threw a wrench in those plans. Admitting his slip-ups, Truex also pointed a finger at Chase Elliott, suggesting the American played a part in his inability to catch up to Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher in the race’s final moments.

A fight for third place that nearly resulted in a four-wide finish at the line

The race was a wild one, featuring 27 lead changes across 10 different drivers. Kyle Larson snatched his second win of the season. But his shot at victory only materialized after a late caution threw the race—led by Denny Hamlin at the time—into overtime. However, Martin Truex Jr believed he had a shot at catching Denny Hamlin if not for that late caution disrupting the flow.

Truex Jr had opted for four tires just before the final restart, which put him at a disadvantage since fewer drivers than he hoped took two tires. He explained, “[If there was no caution, I could have] caught them quickly. [Denny Hamlin] was obviously going to run out of fuel from what they told me. Easily was gonna pass him, but it doesn’t matter because the caution came out.” Then came overtime.

Hamlin was first out of the pits, but Chris Buescher blasted ahead on the restart. Larson caught up just as they zoomed out of Turn 2 on the last lap, setting the base for a nail-biting dash to the finish. He just edged out Buescher by a mere 0.0001 seconds at Kansas Speedway, while Martin Truex Jr missed his first win of 2024 by only 0.075 seconds in a heart-stopping four-wide finish.

Reaction Info: Did you enjoy that finish in Kansas?

When asked if he thought opting for four tires was the right call for the restart, Truex reflected, “Restarting 10th is tough. 10th to 4th is pretty good, but I just needed to get clear of the #11 and the #9 off of Turn 2. I got the #9 (Chase Elliott), but he crossed me back over, and then we got side by side into Turn 3 and it made me real tight. If I could have cleared him off of Turn 2 and 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.” However, Elliott wasn’t the only one who stopped the JGR driver.

His teammate did, too. Truex Jr continued, “I had the #9 under me and couldn’t turn down the racetrack. I was tight back there.” Answering the question about his tire choice, he added, “It didn’t win the race, so it wasn’t the right call. But I don’t know. I don’t think anyone expected that many to [take two tires] for a long run like that.”

Truex, who kicked off from 13th, made a steady push through the pack, eventually finding himself right behind his teammate Hamlin towards the end, thanks to different pit-stop strategies. However, that caution with less than 10 laps remaining led to another round of pit stops and a frantic green-white-checkered finish, where they ended up fourth and fifth – Hamlin trailing Truex Jr.

With all said and done, though, it looks like the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is getting fed up with these late cautions that have been costing him win after win.

Martin Truex Jr was “frustrated” about the last caution

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The #19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver was on Denny Hamlin’s tail during the closing laps of the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday night. Truex had sliced through the field to secure second place as the fastest car on the track, but then the caution came out because of a spin by Kyle Busch with just seven laps left.

Truex fell to P10 after opting for 4 tires during the final caution, while 9 other cars chose just 2 tires and jumped ahead of him. Despite Martin Truex Jr’s Toyota making several passes, the race kicked back into gear with just a two-lap dash to the finish, and Truex could only claw his way back to fourth.

“I don’t know, just frustrating,” he vented after the race. “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.” 

Even his crew chief, James Small, admitted he hadn’t expected so many drivers to go for two tires on that last pit stop. But one thing’s for sure—if another caution had led to one more restart, Martin Truex Jr might have been the one taking the checkered flag.