Ryan Truex: “Worse Restart” Stole Atlanta Xfinity Run Amidst Back-to-Back Season Disappointment

While Austin Hill went back-to-back, winning the opening two races of the season, for Ryan Truex, it was back-to-back disappointments. After Daytona, the Joe Gibbs Racing star would have wanted a finish high up in the points, and he does come as close as one could get in the Xfinity Series race at Atlanta. However, a crucial error in the last corner of the final lap of the event completely ruined his race, but he still managed to finish in the respectable position of P9.

Ryan Truex is the brother of Cup Series driver and 2017 champion Martin Truex Jr. While the former’s success rate has not been the same as that of the latter, he has still had some memorable on-track moments. Unfortunately, Saturday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway did not produce any of those. Rather, it was the opposite.

Ryan Truex faces Daytona deja vu after a final-lap mishap in Atlanta

Throughout the majority of the race, Ryan Truex was as consistent as they come, as he constantly found himself among the frontrunners. Everyone believed that he would finish at least in the top 5 if not on Victory Road. However, none of those things happened. He was running P4 on the final lap, but on the last turn, his car got loose, and he made slight contact with the wall, plunging him down 5 places to P9.

Speaking about his performance after the race, the Joe Gibbs Racing star was not a happy man. The disappointment was evident on his face and in his voice as he likened this performance to his previous week’s display at Daytona, where he faced similar circumstances. Truex certainly believes in his skills and the pace of the car, but luck has just not been on his side.

“I ran out going into 3 so I would have run out either way and…the problem was that as soon as I connected to the #2 to push him is when he ran out so by the time I got around him my momentum in the bottom lane went. Honestly, if I had a worse restart, I wish I would have, I could have gone around him. But then I would have got the lead and run out into 3 leading which would’ve been a bigger bummer,” he said.

“Did what we could, still got a top 10 but really sucks to run really top 4 the entire race and have nothing to show for it. Last week was the same way. We were so good, got caught up in a wreck in the end…yeah just got to keep going out and doing my thing and hoping that the right people are noticing,” the driver of the #19 Toyota Supra added.

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One of the main issues that a lot of the drivers had to deal with in the Xfinity Series race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway was fuel. The Ford racers had a hard time managing that, but according to Ryan Truex, his fuel management strategy would have paid off had it not been for caution.

The JGR driver also blames late caution after disappointing finish

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The race was restarted after a caution with just a couple of laps to go. Jesse Love’s car ran out of fuel by that time, and Truex was near the front. However, Austin Hill swooped in from behind to take the lead, and he never gave up, while the JGR man kept on dropping positions as he got loose. After the race, the driver of the #19 was quick to blame the caution flag for disrupting his momentum.

“From the time we left pit road, took our fuel, until that caution, I was in save mode. So I was saving fuel under caution, off pit road, saving fuel that whole round. Everything I could…I was told 5 to go, then I turned it on and started going. Caution just, it is what it is. We’re all in the same boat, definitely a bummer,” he further added.

Ryan Truex may be driving in a part-time role at the moment, but his last couple of performances have been impressive, although unlucky. A lot of attention will be on the driver of the #19 the next time he starts a race in the Xfinity Series. One can only hope he finds some luck along the way and manages to win a race or two.

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