Battling for the regular season championship has been beneficial for Martin Truex Jr. In his tug-of-war with William Byron at the top of the table, Truex showed up in style to the tracks in the second half of the season. His incredible run of form continued at Pocono as he held on for a third-place finish at a problematic racetrack.

One of the key incidents from the weekend occurred with the other car of Joe Gibbs Racing. Denny Hamlin’s #11 and Kyle Larson’s #5 were involved in a wreck at Turn 1, which has been a hot topic for discussion. Being one of the contenders to win the race, Truex followed up on the leaders and was one of the drivers who witnessed Hamlin bumping inside the Hendrick Motorsports Camaro. And eventually, he also concludes that the Pocono winner had to play dirty to protect his chances of winning.

Martin Truex Jr says he couldn’t get the ‘right push’ at Pocono

The backdrop was electric, with the venue seeing the largest turnout since 2010. But according to Truex Jr, that energy didn’t end up helping him. Acknowledging the car’s potential that helped him win at New Hampshire, Truex, talking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, said, “Our Interstate Camry was super fast today. I felt like we had the best car out there.”

After a solid performance, the #19 Camry started at the front of the grid but couldn’t translate it into another win in two weeks.

“Good enough to win for sure, just could never get to push on the restart we needed. You know, when we were leading, we were gone. Those guys got us on a little bit of stretchy, we were third, and we tried to get to second on the restart. We just could never get the right push so, unfortunate.“

In the last 8 weeks of Cup Series racing, Truex Jr has amassed 6 top 5 finishes. While other Toyotas have been gathering up their tools and also shown great results in the recent past, Truex has been on another level to compete with Byron. But speaking about his attempt to move ahead at Pocono, he says that there was not enough opposition to unsettle the leader.

“When I was third I picked the outside behind the #5 and it got me to second. I felt like if I just did that again, I was going to run second to him. So I picked the front row and I didn’t get the push I needed and I fell back again and I had to fight my way back. I don’t know, for whatever reason we couldn’t get the push we needed on the front row but we pushed a lot of guys today forward and whoever was the leader if they were in front of me they were going to keep the lead you know what I mean?”

Despite all of this, one thing Martin Truex Jr will be celebrating after Pocono will be his victory over Byron who finished 14th after claiming the pole on Saturday. This will be a massive boost in his title challenge for the regular season championship.

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Truex Jr says Denny Hamlin’s ‘dirty’ move was the difference maker

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The on-track altercation between Larson and Hamlin was one of the turning points of the race. Larson was running a good race and had enough pace to keep up with the leaders. But his hopes of a win lasted only till the unfortunate bump at Turn 1. Irrespective of his third-place start, he limped off to a 20th-place finish.

“I’m not exactly sure what that was all about but I feel like I picked the right lanes and I did exactly what Denny did besides running through – pushing the 5 car too deep in the corner and run him in the fence off of [Turn] 2,” said Martin Truex Jr highlighting the similarity between Hamlin and his approach to the race until the wreck.

He then emphasizes the move being a necessary evil in this situation as he said, “You know he kinda took it that extra little bit I guess to make it a little bit dirty and you know I didn’t so maybe that’s the difference why he won and I didn’t.”

The move by Hamlin has been widely criticized by the community. Questioning his intentions and denial of involvement in such incidents, fans have not taken this wreck lightly at all. On the other hand, Larson, although he has voiced his frustration publicly, is calm about it and said that he wanted to solve it like grown-ups who can take accountability for their actions.

“Didn’t Pay Him Back”: Infuriated Kyle Larson Warns Denny Hamlin of Unfinished Business After JGR Driver’s Controversial Move Triggered Heavy Backlash