Truex Jr.’s Fast Race Car Battles Back from Adversity to Finish 14th

Martin Truex Jr. had another fast car but two unscheduled visits to pit road dropped him to a 14th-place finish in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
 
Truex, who was coming off two top-10 finishes (7th at Dover and 4th at Kansas), ran a good part of the 334-lapper in the top 10, including a race-high of fourth.
 
“We beat ourselves tonight,” said Truex as he exited his No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet. “I had to drive back to pit road twice and that was costly. We had a fast hot rod that could run up front, but those two extra stops for a loose lug nut and a vibration prevented us from having another top-10 or top-five finish. Considering all that happened tonight we did come away with a decent result but we expected more.”
 
Truex, who started 23rd, made his first entrance into the top-10 on Lap 80. But after a pit stop following a caution on Lap 135 he was forced to return to pit road due to a fallen lug nut. The incident caused him to fall back to 21st place.
 
He eventually climbed his way back to the top-10 following a caution on Lap 237. But 50 laps later he radioed his crew to report that there was a vibration in the car. A few laps later, while the race was under green, he came into the pits for a four-tire change. That incident dropped him to 23rd and one lap down.
 
Truex battled his way back to the lead lap and picked up nine positions to finish 14th.  
 
“It’s really difficult to overcome two unscheduled pit stops,” said Truex. “But we kept our cool and fought hard to finish 14th. While the finish wasn’t what we were looking for, the good news tonight was that our Furniture Row Chevy was strong from a performance standpoint.”
 
Truex gained one spot in the point standings, and with five races remaining he is positioned in 23rd place.
 
FRR PR