Joe Gibbs Racing had a dominant outing at Nashville. With Martin Truex Jr and Denny Hamlin combining to lead 131 laps of the race, their only regret would be not finishing first. Ross Chastain battled it out against the JGR duo to steal the show after battling it out all evening. Reflecting on the proceedings of the race, Truex Jr has spoken on what could be the possible aspect they missed out on.

He also explores the problems that Next-Gen cars have provided amidst dirty air on the track. Losing control of pace could be a decisive factor in any race.

Martin Truex Jr Slams Next-Gen Car’s Inability in Dirty Air

Joe Gibbs’ Secret Weapon and Hamlin were thwarted by Ross Chastain in their pursuit of the top spot. Although the trio had it tough all evening, sharing the lead and tussling to maintain it, Chastain held steady to take the win. With the most important thing not going in their favor, Truex introspects on what could have gone wrong.

“It’s just you can never quite get bounce when needed, we tried a lot of stuff, we tried to work on that but we could never just quite get it. We’re just getting too loose on the long runs. Yeah, I don’t know, little bittersweet, but a good solid night and you know, what we needed to do just wish we could have.”

Speaking about what could have made their night better, the #19 driver says, “You always wanna win. Wins are always great. Would be cool to get one here but, a solid run for sure.” 

Taking about his battle at the front, he said, he could do much because of the dirty air. In case you are unaware, Dirty Air is a phenomenon where the car behind faces turbulent air that reduces the aerodynamic performance and downforce of the car, further resulting in less grip. This has been a big issue for the drivers this season. With the cars proving to be pretty uncomfortable to control in congestion, it only makes things worse. Drivers have also commented on this issue previously and how it has been disadvantageous to them.

Read More: “Never Thought We Couldn’t Win” Martin Truex Jr Sends a Strong Self Belief Warning to His Rivals Following Complete Turn Around

Truex States His Reason for Staying Away From Traffic at Nashville

Trending

“My Body Needed Time”: Tony Stewart’s Wife, Leah, Discloses Her Roadblocks to Motherhood Amid Racing Dilemma

NASCAR Insider Urges Rick Hendrick to Rope In ‘Next Kyle Larson’ After $100,000 Win

Joe Gibbs Racing Potentially Blocking Truck Series Phenom on Denny Hamlin’s Radar After On-Track Bad Blood

Trackhouse Racing’s Drastic Downfall to Potentially Get Worse With One of Their Founding Fathers Leaving Mid-Season

Dale Earnhardt Jr Pressures NASCAR to Punish Drivers ‘Crossing the Line’, Salutes SVG’s Racing Morals

The Next-Gen cars have been a subject of impending improvisation in the community. While NASCAR continues to explore what more additions could they make to create a more stable version of the car, drivers are fed up with the vehicle’s response to dirty air. Especially on short tracks, the cars have provided lesser grip that in turn ruins the overall experience of the race. Criticizing NASCAR for their ignorance towards this, Martin Truex Jr said, “Track will get so slick when you get rubbered up. You know, whoever’s leading could just mere drive and I had no chance so, I was really loose trying to get off the corners.”

He then explains the reason he had to back out of the on-track congestion at Nashville. “When they would kinda slide in front of me, I was just reckoned loose, trynna hang on. So, I could just hang two three-car lanes back. It’s all I could do. If I fell back and run it back down but it’s so bad in dirty air with these cars, there’s just nothing you can do if they just decide to change lanes in front of you.”

NASCAR needs to take a deeper look into this to ensure the quality of racing is maintained over the course of time. With the drivers not being big fans of the Next-Gen model so far, it is better to address this issue before it becomes a major hindrance to NASCAR’s plans. With ideas of expansion in place, NASCAR should prioritize to fix their vehicles first.

Watch This Story: Tony Stewart’s fierce outburst exposes Joe Gibbs & Richard Childress’ questionable racing talent