Martin Truex Jr.’s playoff spot at risk pending Austin Dillon’s appeal and Darlington outcome
Martin Truex Jr. has delivered solid performances this season, yet his lack of a win puts him at risk of missing the 2024 playoffs. With thirteen drivers already clinching playoff spots, the remaining three positions are up for grabs among five contenders, including Truex Jr.
Truex Jr. pilots the #19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, competing full-time in the Cup Series. In a career spanning 20 years, 2017 Cup Series champion Truex Jr. has claimed 48 race wins across all NASCAR divisions, of which 34 have come in the Cup Series. The New Jersey native also won two consecutive Xfinity Series titles (2004, 2005).Following NASCAR’s penalty on Austin Dillon after his controversial win at Richmond, Richard Childress Racing filed an appeal to retract the penalty and allow Dillon to claim the 14th spot in the playoffs. If NASCAR decides in favor of Dillon in the appeal, it would change the playoff landscape by reducing the three seats in contention to two.
Fox Sports journalist Bob Pockrass shared the possible changes in the playoff picture in an article shared on X (formerly Twitter). He captioned the post:
“I explain the scenarios here (Truex is in IF Dillon loses appeal AND no new winner at Darlington no matter what he does at Darlington, otherwise he isn’t mathematically guaranteed)”
In the article, Pockrass reported that Martin Truex Jr. is only at risk of missing out on the playoffs if Dillon’s appeal is successful and a new winner emerges at Darlington. Truex Jr. is currently P9 in the driver standings with 695 points, ahead of the four other drivers in contention for the remaining playoff spots.
“Almost a guarantee” – Martin Truex Jr. sheds light on competing in the 2025 Daytona 500
Earlier this year, Martin Truex Jr. announced his retirement from competing full-time in NASCAR. However, the 44-year-old hinted at the possibility of running part-time next season.
In a recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Truex Jr. opened up about the possibility of running in the Daytona 500 next season. He said:
“I’m not exactly sure yet, it looks like, it’s almost a guarantee right now that I’ll probably run the Daytona 500. Not a done deal yet, but I feel like it shouldn’t be too hard to finish that up,” Truex Jr. said. “I’ll definitely run a few Xfinity races; I don’t know if that’s two or if that’s five or six. So we got to kind of look at the schedule [and] see where I would like to run.” [07:18]
The Cup race this Sunday will mark the end of the 2024 regular season. Martin Truex Jr. has won two races at Darlington in his NASCAR career and with doubts regarding his spot in the playoffs, the #19 driver would be looking to emerge victorious in the Southern 500.