Martin Truex Jr. on the verge of historic elimination at Bristol
After crashing out on lap 4 of the NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Kansas, Martin Truex Jr. faces historic elimination at Bristol.
Truex started third and dropped to 11th by lap 3 with an extremely tight racecar. Then, entering turn 3 on lap 4, the car broke loose and smacked the outside wall.
The crash knocked Truex out of the race and to a last-place finish.
“We fired off tight and I knew I had something wrong. Then, going into turn three, the right-rear tire blew at the worst possible time,” Truex told NBC. “It’s just a shame, we had a really fast car and couldn’t even show it.
Goodyear officials found a puncture in the right-rear tire on Truex’s car.
Kyle Busch and Ty Gibbs had to start at the rear of the field after each encountering a right-rear tire failure in practice.
By finishing last Sunday, Truex only earned one point for the Kansas race. Going into the Round of 16 cutoff race at Bristol, he is seven points below the cutline.
Truex won the regular-season champion and earned the No. 1 playoff seed. Neither the regular-season champion nor the No. 1 seed has ever missed the Championship Four, aside from Kevin Harvick in 2020. Harvick was eliminated by 8 points in the Round of 8 that year.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com