Even after having amassed 34 Cup wins in his illustrious career, the Texas track still eludes Martin Truex Jr. Sunday’s race was a huge opportunity for him to overturn his fortunes, but a disjointed effort by his crew hampered any hopes of him getting a decent finish.

Racing in Texas has always been a sketchy affair, and a similar scenario unfolded last Sunday. 16 cautions, a double overtime finish, and multiple wrecks ensued. In Truex’s case, he managed to stay afloat in the race, but a series of pit stop blunders didn’t allow him to have a real shot at contesting for the win.

The veteran driver has a reputation for racing cleanly and often manages to keep a check on his emotions. However, in a rare outburst of frustration, the 43-year-old was heard hurling rants on the radio.

Martin Truex Jr lashes out at his pit crew

Despite just making adjustments and refueling the car, the No. 19 Camry had a loose wheel after a pit stop, which forced Truex to return to the pits and change his tires. The entire sequence of radio communication between him and his team was shared by FOX via X.

“We got a loose wheel,” said the driver on the radio. He further indicated that he shouldn’t have made the fuel stop in the first place as he lost his track position due to the blunder of his pit crew. “Should’ve stayed out.” In response, his crew chief, James Small, asked him to bring his car back. “Bring it back.” However, the second pit stop mistake in the final stage of the race was a costly one, and again, it was the loose wheel.

Pitting with some 50 laps to go in the race, the right rear tire of the #19 JGR car wasn’t locked on tight. Truex Jr complained about his car feeling weird, and yet again he was asked to make a pit stop to resolve the issue. But this time, the driver turned livid due to repeated mishaps. “Complete f**cking disaster all day. Waiting on the f**cking fuel, how do you loose wheel,” the driver said during the race.

So close yet so far has been the story for the New Jersey native driver in the Cup Series so far. Despite the winless run, he is holding his own in the standings for the time being.

Here’s how the 2024 season has panned out for Truex Jr so far

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Consistency has not been an issue for Truex Jr this season. After a decent couple of results, he really started to contest for the wins. Consecutive top-10 finishes at Vegas and Phoenix fueled the momentum for his charge, and he even finished second at Bristol. However, he lost out on his win at Richmond against a controversial restart by his teammate Denny Hamlin. Yet, he managed a P4 finish.

However, the Martinsville and Texas races were not the best results considering how well the No. 19 car has run so far. After nine races, he is still placed second in the drivers’ standings, just behind Kyle Larson, and interestingly, out of the top five drivers, he is the only one unable to register a win.

However, it will be quite a story if he gets his first win of the season at Talladega this weekend, given that he’s never won a Cup race at this racetrack either.