By Seth Eggert, Associate Editor
Before a mid-race rain delay, it appeared that Martin Truex Jr.’s race was over after he spun into the outside wall off Turn 4 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. However, as the NASCAR Cup Series ventured into the unknown, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was surprised to score a top-10 finish.
A poor pit stop at the end of Stage 2 left Truex’s No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods in the middle of the pack. The Mayetta, NJ native spun into the outside wall just 20 laps later. Two laps later and the skies opened up as storms drenched the USA Today 301.
After over a two-hour rain delay the Cup Series field restarted on Goodyear’s Wet Weather Tires, a first for the Cup field this deep into a points race on an oval. As the field spread out, Truex picked his way back up the running order. The 2017 champion avoided the chaos as cautions plagued the wet weather racing.
In overtime, Truex muscled his way back into the top-10. The 43-year-old picked up another spot as Justin Haley plummeted down the running order with significant damage from late-race contact. When the checkered flag waved, Truex crossed the line in his damaged car in ninth.
“(I) definitely [didn’t] (think I was going to finish top-10),” Truex said. “When it was pouring rain, I thought we were headed home. Definitely a tough day. We had speed in our Reser’s Camry. It is a shame the way things worked out, but definitely happy to get a top-10. It has been a rough four weeks, so we needed a good finish. We had good stage points, and we needed a good finish, so glad that we got it, but it hurts to have a tough day here, probably being my last one.”
In a largely caution-free first two Stages of the scheduled 301-lap race, Truex finished the first Stage in sixth. Despite two cautions further back in the pack in the second stage, the Toyota Racing driver took the green-white checkered flag in second. Combined, Truex earned an additional 14-points.
The ninth-place finish, in his final race at one of his home tracks as a full-time driver, marked Truex’s eighth top-10 finish of the 2024 season. It also marked his 288th career top-10 finish in the Cup Series.
The top-10 finish moved Truex up from fifth to fourth in the points standings. He is 48-points behind leader Kyle Larson and 142 above the playoff cutline, currently held by Joey Logano.
Next for Truex is the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. In three starts at the 1.333-mile concrete track the veteran driver has one top-five finish, a runner-up finish last season.
The Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway is scheduled for Sunday, June 30 at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC. The race will also be broadcast on both the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.