“F*cking Junk”: Martin Truex Jr. left furious with his Toyota Camry at Pocono
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. has expressed his frustration with his #19 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway. Truex admitted that he his car had some performance issues on straightaway but secured a top-10 finish.
While competing in The Great American Getaway 400, Martin Truex expressed his disappointment on car radio with the speed of his #19 Toyota Camry on the straightaway of the 2.5-mile-long Pocono, which are crucial for maintaining competitive lap times and positioning.According to Stephen Stumpf, the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch, Truex, on car radio, was heard saying:
“This thing is so f*cking slow on the straightaway. Junk. F*cking junk.”
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Afterwards on team radio, the #19 team asked him:
“How are your gauges, is anything flashing?”
“No, it’s just a f*cking turtle!” the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion replied.
Earlier in the race, Martin Truex took control of the race from polesitter Ty Gibbs and led the straight 14 laps without any challenge. He won Stage 1 and earned a P8 finish in the final running order.
The #19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver has high expectations from himself, as the ongoing season is the final full-time season for him. However, his farewell season hasn’t been one he had hoped for, as the playoffs are nearer, but he has yet to win a Cup Series race.This year, the 44-year-old has had four top-5s and nine top-10 finishes, including a best finish of P2 at Bristol Motor Speedway. With five races remaining in the regular season, he’s 13th in the Cup Series points table.
Martin Truex Jr. spoke about his recent slump in performance before the Pocono race
The 2017 NASCAR champion was performing consistently in the first half of the 2024 regular season and was in the lead in the points table. After that, his form declined, as he had a string of poor finishes.The eighth-place finish at Pocono was his second top-10 finish in the last nine races for the #19 JGR driver. Ahead of Sunday, Truex had addressed his recent slump of finishes.
In a pre-race interview with Cup Scene’s YouTube channel, he said:
“For sure, it’s been a tough month and a-half, finish-wise. Speed-wise, aside from maybe last week and Iowa, we’ve been solid. Just need to capitalize on that and execute.
“It takes a lot of things to win races, lead laps, stay upfront, and have fast cars, so I hope we can put it all together this weekend. But I feel good about it. Yeah, just kind of been in a slump for a little while now.”
Catch Martin Truex in action at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 21.
