Having led 228 of 407 laps Martin Truex Jr was on the cusp of a win at Toyota Owners 400. But a late caution turned what could’ve been a night of celebration into one of frustration for Truex Jr. To make matters worse, his very own teammate, Denny Hamlin, managed to sneak past him to take the lead going into overtime. Understandably, Truex Jr. wasn’t pleased and didn’t mince his words.

With just two laps left to go, Kyle Larson’s #5 car got loose and spun off the race track after coming into contact with Bubba Wallace. This flagged off a caution and initiated overtime, which was not a welcoming sight for race leader Truex Jr. who expressed his frustration on the radio and said, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” 

“Dumba** move ruined our whole night,” MTJ not happy after Richmond finish

With just one lap to go at Richmond Raceway, Bubba Wallace sent Kyle Larson spinning down the front stretch. As soon as the yellow flag dropped Turex Jr. already knew that his lead would water down to nothing going into overtime. While it was expected that the end of the race would be a frantic one the finish was decided on the pit road rather than the racetrack.

Out of the blue, Denny Hamlin’s #11 car managed to jump ahead of both Joey Logano and his teammate and found himself in the prime position to win the race. And next thing you know, he holds on to the lead across the two laps of overtime. Thus delivering a bitter blow to his teammate Truex Jr, who felt like the race win was stolen from him.

The veteran JGR driver could not process what just happened with his race at Richmond. Knowing that the win was beyond his reach, a frustrated Turex Jr. tried to wreck Larson during the final lap, but the HMS driver retaliated and shoved him toward the wall. This saw Larson finish in third place, while Truex Jr finished fourth. He then even went on to bump his teammate Hamlin in frustration, but the driver of the #11 car got clear of him, avoiding any potential incident.

Speaking after the race he said, “Lead the whole race and some dumbass move brings out a caution coming to the white flag and ruined our whole night.” 

It was indeed a sucker punch for the 43-year-old driver, who was finding it hard to express his feelings after a bitter end to his race. When talking about the Kyle Larson scuffle he said did say that the Hendrick Motorsports driver initiated contact. Turex Jr. said, “He drove into the side of me in (Turns) 1 and 2, and I got a little loose down the backstretch. I don’t know if my left rear was going down or what, and I kind of slammed into him. No big deal.”

Turex Jr. also shared his thoughts on Hamlin hampered his progress resulting in his disappointing end to the race.

“It’s unfortunate,” Turex Jr. opens up about Deny Hamlin’s role in his Richmond disappointment

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After the race Turex Jr. also expressed his unhappiness with Hamlin. “I mean it’s unfortunate. This has happened to me a few times over the years. We were in a great spot, and the guys did a really good job, just got beat out of the pits and got, he (Hamlin) jumped the start and used me around Turn 1. Definitely sucks but a good solid day and another car capable of winning, so we’ll have to come back next week,” Truex said via FOX after the race.

This defeat will surely be a tough pill to swallow for Martin Truex Jr but given his position in the driver’s standings, he would want to continue on this good run going into the next race in Martinsville.

Hometown Hero Denny Hamlin Wins Richmond, Capitalizing on Frenemy Martin Truex Jr’s Misery