Martin Truex Jr. sums up a frustrating evening for him at the Wine Country

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway tuned out to be a disappointing outing for Martin Truex Jr. He was in a position to secure a strong podium finish, but his #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota ran out of fuel while running second on the final lap of the road course race.

To open the second road race of 2024 and 34th all-time at the Napa Valley track, polesitter Joey Logano led before seeing the initial yellow fly for Denny Hamlin after his engine expired, the first of multiple bad incidents for JGR.

After William Byron ran off the course in Turn 1 and came to pit road with tire problems, Ty Gibbs became JGR’s third driver to have issues when he smacked the Turn 1 wall on Lap 15 to force the second caution period.

Due to empty fuel, the four-time Sonoma winner dropped through the field losing 25 positions and ended up finishing 27th. At a snail’s pace, he managed to reach the finish line and was last car on the lead lap.

Martin Truex Jr. left frustrated after losing a second-place position. Reflecting on missed opportunity and not saving enough fuel in the end during the post-race interview, Truex Jr. said (via nbcsports.com):
“I’m not sure why we didn’t try to save a little at the end. I was clearly not going to catch the 5 or pass him. It’s a shame that we went around the last corner and went from second to wherever we finished,”