In what started off as a good day for Martin Truex Jr. chasing another championship by starting on the pole and leading twice throughout the day for 10 laps while picking up 11 points through the first two stages it didn’t go according to plan as late in the race with just 30 laps to go smoke would start pouring from the exhaust of the No. 19 machine.
Truex would bring the car to pit road under caution only to have the team end up sending him to the garage finishing out the day in the 29th spot and now sixth in the point standing 16 points below the cut line.
Adding to the day that would bring out the caution in which Truex engine would expire would be Denny Hamlin just a lap earlier while racing Blaney and Byron would get squeezed up into the wall off turn two.
This would make two Joe Gibbs Racing machines to experience issues within just a lap of one another and both who are in the hunt for a championship.
Hamlin would lead three times throughout the day for 31 laps while picking up 10 playoff points yet finish in 30th place for the day and seventh in points tied with Truex, 16 points behind the cut line.
With Bell and Larson locked into the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway and William Byron 30 points above the cut line with both drivers’ chances becoming slim without a walk off win at Martinsville next weekend in the Xfinity 500.
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