After Contending for Half the Race, Aero Problems Stifle Truex Jr.'s Performance in Kentucky
After running solidly in the top-three for a number of laps, Martin Truex Jr.'s Furniture Row Chevrolet suffered aerodynamic damage, causing it to fall out of contention in Saturday night's Quaker State 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway. The end result for the Furniture Row Racing driver was a 17th-place finish.
Truex, who remained fifth in the driver points and sixth in the Chase playoff standings, was running second to race winner Kyle Busch at the halfway point of the 267-lap race. Truex started the race fifth and ran inside the top-five and top-10 for the first 150 laps.
The trouble began for Truex when the race was was restarted following a Lap 151 caution. He not only lost track position on the 1.5-mile oval, but a few laps later his Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet suffered right-front damage while trying to get back to the front.
"We had too many issues to overcome in the second half of the race," said Truex. "We had problems with handling -- the car kept on plowing through the corners, especially after taking a few hits to the right front. I gave it all I had, but when the car is aerodynamically handicapped it's difficult to make anything happen."
Truex added, "The good news is that we ran up front for plenty of laps and the bad news is that we didn't stay up front. If we ran the entire race where we finished I would be much more disappointed. But for at least half the race we were up front."
FRR PR
Speedway Digest Staff
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