This playoff season could easily be termed ‘the many miseries of Martin Truex Jr‘. The champion of the regular season anticipated discussions surrounding his first playoff round. But he never imagined disappointment echoing across the studios of NASCAR insiders.

The #19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver caused genuine concern in the minds of all his supporters after dropping 7 points down the cut-off mark for the next round. And to add fuel to his diminishing fire, a new statistic emerged that the former champion would never want to be associated with.

Martin Truex Jr would be the first regular season champion in NASCAR’s history to set a disheartening record

Martin Truex Jr was assured of a successful playoff season after the regular season ended at Daytona. After winning three races and leading 832 laps, MTJ exuded confidence in the media day interview before Darlington. He was looking forward to the upcoming races and envisioned driving in the Championship’4 race at Phoenix. Especially after he failed to qualify for the playoffs last year.

Unfortunately, two races negated all the hard work he put in the entire year. Truex Jr suffered relentless mishaps to finish 18th in Darlington and could not even finish at the Kansas Speedway. And now, the #19 driver would need stage points in the next race in Bristol to even consider the next round.

To make matters worse, the 2017 champion has a long-standing animosity with the racetrack with a dismal average finish of 20.8. If Truex Jr could not manage additional stage points at the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, he would set an unprecedented record. And certainly not one he would prefer to get framed.

SiriusXM’s reporter Davey Segal joined PRN to share the disturbing aftermath of Martin Truex Jr’s playoff eviction. A stunned Segal revealed, “It’s nuts to think that we could be in a position, a legitimate position for the regular season champion, for the first time ever in the history of this format, could be eliminated in the first round.”

Segal continued, “And we heard Martin Truex Jr talk at media day and leading up to the playoffs. That he had very similar vibes to his other Championship’4 seasons, his past championship season. And, it’s crazy the dichotomy of last year missing the postseason to this year, winning the regular season championship. And now, just because of two bad weeks in a row, we could be looking at a legitimate scenario for the 19 car no longer a factor in the post-season come Bristol. Which, by the way, is one of his statistically worst race tracks. So things have gone south in a hurry for MTJ for sure. I’m shocked!”

Despite that, another NASCAR insider was a little more optimistic and expressed greater faith in MTJ’s capabilities.

The #19 driver’s countless supporters have a strong reason to wish for his qualification

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Fox Sports reporter Adam Alexander was convinced of one racer’s success before the playoffs began. A sentiment shared by millions of his fans, Martin Truex Jr was a fan favorite to clinch a second championship this year. Naturally, his confounded torment at the prospect of MTJ’s elimination was also understandable.

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The analyst could still forgive the #19 driver’s 24th finish at Daytona after his teammate Denny Hamlin’s collision. But Martin Truex Jr was renowned for his expertise on the tracks of Darlington and Kansas. It was difficult for him to fathom the former champion’s disastrous races on those grounds.

Alexander chimed in on PRNLive with his bewilderment. “Just let me tell you how surprised I am… I’m surprised that he could be eliminated on Saturday night at Bristol would be an understatement. Just unheard of really. If you go back prior to Daytona, he was on a run. I think it is seven consecutive Top 7-Top 8 finishes with a couple of wins mixed in,” he said.

“All of the points he was gathering up by winning stages and finishing up there in the Top 10 in all those stages and just the model of consistency. And to see what happened at Daytona which is not as big a deal. But at tracks like Darlington and Kansas where you just expect he’s going to be good and to see that advantage erode is amazing.”

However, the Fox reporter would still like to see Truex Jr in the next round. He spoke for millions of MTJ fans when he rightly concluded, “I hope he does advance. Just because I feel like someone who’s that good and that fast and that capable deserves to move throughout the playoffs. And we’ll see what happens Saturday night”.

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