Why Did Martin Truex, Jr. COLLAPSE So Badly?
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- čas přidán 1. 11. 2023
- Season Collapses are not uncommon in NASCAR, through the decades many drivers have fallen off at the end of a season and in 2023 we saw a big one with Martin Truex, Jr. Trues was one of the heavy favorites for the championship heading into the 2023 NASCAR Playoffs. What he did in them was a complete letdown. Today we look at the leadup and 9 races of the NASCAR Playoffs and see why he just could not get it done in 2023. Why did Martin Truex, Jr. collapse so badly?
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Do you think Martin Truex, Jr. will recover in 2024?
He’s gonna win a race or two and retire still competitive
There’s no doubt in my mind 2024 is it for him
No
Negative
I wish but it’s probably gonna be a no for me dawg
No. 2024 might be his final year.
His girlfriend of 18 years died. And even though they broke up earlier this year, you don't get over a long term relationship overnight. His head wasn't in racing anymore.
do people forget he was ass before he went to Gibbs?
@@josh903x It's not like he won a championship with Furniture Row, right?
@@zt5547 & was still mediocre before Gibbs. Thanks
@@josh903x He won 17 races and a championship with Furniture Row ;)
It seems like a combination of a more competitive field, an inconsistent stretch of races and a huge off-track distraction in the form of Sherry dying might’ve affected him.
Context matters more than everything. MTJ and team only put up a half-season together because MTJ's girlfriend of 18 years died halfway through the season. He's clearly distracted; you don't magically lose the ability to race overnight.
It was Pollex' death that caused him to collapse hard. My guess, he tried his best to push forward, but it took a heavy toll on him and his team, to the point of his mental breakdown at Homestead. James Small just made it worse
I think the passing of Sherry really affected him. His heart wasn’t in it this year and that really led to him underperforming I think. Not to mention terrible calls by James Small atop the pit box and it was a bad year. Yeah he got 3 wins this year but bad luck really held the #19 team back. Hopefully they have a rebound next year.
The fact he still made it to the Round of 8 is insane
He managed to prove that the regular season still does matter with his terrible playoff performance.
@@IsaacV24Kyle Busch would of made the final 4 despite a horrible first round in 2008 if they had the playoffs even though everyone would of raced differently
How the hell did you fail to mention Sherry Pollex. Media is so critical. The person he dated for 18 years died
Losing Sherry really had an affect on his season, you gotta feel bad for him. Fan or not
James Small and MTJ can’t be together next year
The pairing seems so toxic
Also Sherry passing away seemed to affect him massively
THAT's gonna go real well...
@@johnhaas2523 that’s not gonna help
@@johnhaas2523 Does Grandpa Joe want MTJ to do bad? Cuz it's obvious that him and Small don't have chemistry.
Joe Gibbs is out of touch with reality. That team is going to be a second tier team like RCR if he doesn't get a grip and do some house cleaning. All four teams had issues with their pit crews this year.
I had no idea how I missed the fact that sherry passed away. Rip to her my condolences to the family. I'm sure thus had alot to do with MTJs performance. I'm not a Truex fan but you gotta have empathy for the entire situation.
Sherry dying might have affected him more than we thought
His breakdown at Homestead confirmed it
I wouldn’t say that Harvick 2020 season was a collapse. What really screwed it up was Joey Logano winning at Kansas because Logano was one of the bottom seeds in the round of 8 and that took away like half of the point cushion that Harvick had when that round started. And after that they just couldn’t perform, and when it came to Martinsville, he was on the chopping block.
To add to the darlington race, the team later said when truex brushed the wall in qualifying he bent something in the car and the team never caught it until after the race was over. The first round was just awful
People that try to compare Truex 2023 to Harvick 2020 are not being fair. Harvick 2020 was getting sacrificed for the system. This year was an absolute collapse
exactly. people forget that until Texas, he had the best average finish in the 7 playoff races prior. and at Texas, he was leading and crashed when the rains came. at martinsville, he had a tyre go down under green and went 2 laps down. only to battle back unto the lead lap and almost got a top 10
There is no such thing as half a implosion to my knowledge of deconstruction, this the full on IMPLOSION of Truex’s playoff that was pain to watch. They cruised controlled their way that they forgot to turn it off.
He has been through quite a lot , not sure what people expect from him
As a truex fan, I’m disappointed that we didn’t get that 2nd championship this season. However, I look at the positives, in 2022 he has ZERO wins and was contemplating retirement. Here comes 2023 where he starts the season with a win at the Clash at the Colosseum, following that with 3 regular season wins! But I also can’t deny how horrible this chase for the cup was, I was at Kansas when he wrecked on the 3rd or 4th lap, if it wasn’t for me getting his autograph earlier in the day, it would’ve totally ruined that Sunday for me.
Bad luck, bad calls, bad timing with a personal tragedy.
It's just surprising that MTJ just collapsed hard. Perhaps him and James Small aren't getting along or Sherry Pollex's death distracted him. All I know is that he's not getting any younger and like his teammate, Hamlin, he's running out of time. Won't surprise me if he announces that 2024 will be his last year in the Cup Series.
I couldn't be anymore devastated as an MTJ fan
Definitely the biggest collapse in playoff history. As for next year I think truex has little motivation and so does the team and they do pretty mediocre. Like no wins and barely get in the playoffs
Distractions from Pollex and a toxic relationship with James Small. No way you can win with the way MTJ communicates....turned into an absolute child over the radio.
What if Truex had more confidence heading into the playoffs?
What if he hadn't blown a tire on lap 4 at Kansas?
What if his Top 10 at Vegas wasn't his only top 10 in the final 10 races?
What if, in 2023, Martin Truex Jr captured his missing ring?
7:20 Not a weaker field at the top, quite the contrary - a stronger field, that stopped anyone running away with it during the regular season
MTJ earned the Season Championship. He is the greatest driver on that team. Humble to a fault and extremely proud and quiet. He had way too much to fight beginning just before play off time, including the passing of Sherry......may she rest in peace. Had they been together or not, there is no way that would not have affected him.
Typical Ty Gibbs Racing Disasterclass
Don't blame Ty Gibbs, blame Joey Logano for taking him out at Martinsville for absolutely no reason.
At Bristol there was a lady sitting behind me shouting "LET'S GO TRUEX!!!!" loudly. She's obviously disappointed he didn't make the championship 4 but at least she saw him make it past the first round.
It is also worth noting that the #19 also got knocked out of the owners playoff after Ro12 wrapped up.
So, who's leading the owners championship?
@@JustGenius2001 Owners C4 are the same as drivers C4.
@@FMecha Oh okay.
@@JustGenius2001but the 9 team was the one in the round of 8 instead of 19
@@ireneasare9552 I honestly don't know how the owners playoffs work. I assume it's like the drivers playoffs?
Truex is past his prime and just hasn’t been the same driver as when Cole Pearn was on the box. It happens to all of the best, I think he might have another 2-3 competitive seasons in him at the very most. I’d still say this has been a great season for him, even if he didn’t make the final 4, this is a much needed improvement over 2022. Maybe we see him come back even better next year? I hope they give him someone better on the box than James Small, he has his moments but overall I think that’s what’s holding Truex back the most.
He had a lot of fight starting from the Clash. He ran down youngsters in an outdated car and won, keeping up the pace with a couple strong finishes and Monday wins. There were a couple of screwy strategies from James Small, but it looked like they worked things out by the time CRINGE Network stopped broadcasting and NBC took over. Once Pollex died, that's when it hit him. HARD. Even though we didn't see it, it was bad all around for the 19. It looked like he was getting back to rhythm at Vegas, but Homestead is where he broke down. Age has nothing to do with this collapse this time
@@S.K.R.E.Inc. Age is always a factor of it, but I will not say that what you have said is wrong. There’s so many things here that could’ve went different that may have been enough to get him into the final 4. From the driver perspective, he was focused until he was not, and for good reason. As for the team, it seems like as soon as he lost focus, they gave up. He had a good run at Vegas but his team did absolutely nothing for him at Homestead. Same for Bristol, he had a good run but the team couldn’t help him out. The driver can only do so much with what he has, and that’s where my point in age comes in, older drivers tend to just not have that “clutch” ability like younger drivers do, it’s just a part of their prime years. Younger guys tend to be able to get more out of a bad situation than some older ones, it’s just how it is. Every race of the playoffs he’s had speed to be in or around the top 10, it just seems like he’s had either poor luck or an issue with the team in this years playoffs. I can’t entirely blame him when he is in spots to have good finishes and the crew chief makes bad calls every other time he’s on the box, but his age doesn’t help him either in being able to overcome the hardships (he is 43 years old after all).
He’s the best current cup driver, just a bad pit crew, bad crew chief, and not as pushed as hamlin from jgr..
@@smunger69Not true. the first round, he was running where he was racing except at Kansas. the second round, worse. he was nowhere in dega and the roval. you could make a case for Texas but that's it.
@@ireneasare9552 the roval he started towards the front and then as the race progressed fell back, but was up and in around the top 10 to start with. Talladega he was top 15 until the last lap wreck. Kansas, he flat out lost it and wrecked on lap 3. Homestead, engine failure. Texas, he had some top 10 speed but the pit crew could not execute a good stop all race. Bristol, top 15 speed but with around 150 to go be got loose hit the wall and got stuck a lap down under the caution and didn’t recover. At Darlington, Truex led 145 laps, won stage 1, then crashed 2 times before the end of the race. Vegas he barely got a top 10 but was having pit crew issues throughout the day, could’ve had a top 5 there. Martinsville was what did him in, when he sped down pit road in stage 2 and cost himself a good run. So aside from the Roval and maybe Talladega, he’s had the speed everywhere but hasn’t been able to close the deal, whether on him or on the team. How is what I said not true?
This is easily the biggest playoff collapse I can recall going back to the implementation of the chase.
Gibbs needs to move heaven, earth, and the stars to get Cole Pearn back. That would help with the race issues.
As a MTJ diehard, I would like to see him paired up with a new crew chief for next season. He needs a new voice in his ear to refocus himself.
Also, he does not fit the aggressive drive it in hard bump and run mentality of this younger group of drivers have. He is from a different generation which puts him at a disadvantage.
Feels like MTJ's final season will be in 2024.
Definitely. He's miserable and his performance is regressing. Plus, Grandpa Joe probably wants him gone and replace him with a cheap, younger Toyota driver.
@@JustGenius2001don't be surprised when no talent Dean Thompson skips Xfinity to be put in a jgr cup car and basically do nothing
@@brandondavis8790 Nemechek could move to the #19 and Thompson can get the #42. I have a feeling that Nemechek will take over the #19 at some point.
The mental health of pilots always seems like a critically overlooked factor in the world of motorsport.
So wait, NASCAR is now "North American Spec Car Association"? 😂😂
Sorry, I'm new! Here from SlapShoes!
The NextGen car is more spec than stock so, yeah, why the hell not?
More like National Association for Spec Car Auto Racing
@@polycube868 U right. I can't believe I screwed up the acronym 😂
It is the regular season championship curse, if you want a chance at the actual championship stay away from the regular season title
It pains me to say it, but Pearn was the only reason Truex was so successful and became the superstar he is.
Ehhh
He was still really good in 2020-21
It seems to really be age has caught up with him
I mean, it's a more respectable way than how Dale Jr and Chase Elliott became superstars. You know where I'm going with this; daddy's famous.
@@lorddrac_dontaskmetodanceyou act like they got into cup and didn’t perform at all.
Do you think Martin Truex, Jr. will recover in 2024?...Yes but with a new crew chief also the passing of Sherry Pollex may have contributed to his collapse as well.
Great video iceberg
I still can’t figure out who had the worse playoff run: MTJ in 2023 or Kyle Busch in 2008?
MTJ had a worse collapse statistically.
Kyle Busch 2008 playoff avg finish: 19.1
Mtj 2023 playoff avg finish (so far): 19.8
People who still think martin truex is the full season champion in 2023 need to research non playoffs points on racing reference or winston style points in the community tab on the iceberg community post so to the people who say truex is the real champion of 2023 um no he is fucking not please do some research
Biggest - maybe not.
Most heartbreaking - surely.
Needs a new crew chief, I mean, James is a good crew chief, but when these two are off, they are really bad, and we saw the collapse of them in the playoffs and I just think they would benefit from having new opportunities with others. I’d switch maybe 54 crew chief with 19
And some time for Truex to mourn, as Pollex' death probably derailed his focus
Chase Elliott last year awful in the playoffs Yes, he made it to the final 4. But only had two good runs Finished second at bristol And won the race at Talladega
The soft organ chapel funeral music in the background is just fockin’ awesome on this one. 💒 ⚰ 🎹 Insightful as always sir. 👍🏻
As far as Martin Truex, like others have said, I agree there are two reasons, one and first being the glorified IROC car that they call the cup car. No longer can teams make the car "fast "like they used to when you can't touch anything that makes a car go fast. And then of course the second being the loss of Sherry had to have a huge impact on his emotional state.
That’s a load of shit. There’s plenty to adjust to make speed.
You’re just saying they can’t cheat it up
@@darthhull85Really? You cant touch the motor, OR the body.
Literally everything else you CAN touch are IROC changes... so HOW am I wrong again? LOL
His crew chief, James Small. He needed a new crew chief last year, this year it was too late. Even if he does get some one better in the chair next year, it would take a year or two to sync up, and he doesn't have another 2-3 years, so no on 2024, maybe a win or two, maybe make it to the round of 12, maybe. This should have been his year.
I think he somewhat comes back next year. Probably not regular season champ again but maybe win 1 or 2 races.
Great content, and this one is for the ALGORITHM!!!!!!!
No doubt Sherry passing away weighed heavily on him.
For whatever the reason he left her, she left him, whatever the deal - a long time partner gets sick again (third recurrence?) is going to affect a person, leaving that person, then that person passes away? - yes, it's going to get in his head, and quite frankly, I think Martin should be given a pass for this season. '23 is his "one that was never". It's a mulligan. I hope he finds peace and refocus - and whatever it brings (retirement or continued racing) - I hope he finds it. Fantastic driver, and one of the humblest likeable guys in the field (although the greatest driver to ever grace NASCAR - darling Danica doesn't agree).
No retirement, please. Just time to regroup. MTJ is one of the best, if not the best. One drawback is he keeps everything too close to the vest. It will leak out in other ways, though. The whole team will sense this.......affects everyone. Lack of concentration on their jobs, mistakes, bad calls, and paired with equipment failures all add up to a bad streak. Loss of a long time partner, being with them or not, is way too much pressure to fight through. This downslide came from many places. Martin Truex is a very private man, so nobody will ever know the real truth to the play off mess.
Not until they dump James Small. And I’m a Truex fan.
The 19 team has never transitioned well going from the Gen 6 to the Next Gen. While yes, they were on top of the world for the regular season, others team developed their cars better imo. Truex and team got caught with their pants down come playoff time. Of course, the death of Sherry Pollex didn't help matters in terms of Truex's mental stability, but that entire team has been fragile since last year
I don't see Truex and the team recovering. They don't have a consistent handle on the Next Gen car compared to everyone else
I'd say mostly it was his team turning into a bunch of doofuses did he have one clean put stop the whole playoff
I can't help but imagine truex is now getting the same treatment busch did last year theres no reason a team like jgr should ever have that many bad pit stops
If joe gibbs cares about truex at all then he'll give him a whole new pit crew next year
Ive been wondering if the regular season success gave the team too much confidence, so they got experimental. Some of the strategies they used made no sense to me.
Wait, you made the video to ask us why they collapsed in the playoffs?
considering someone he was really close to him fucking dying yeah that might have done something yeah
He’s largely been a mid driver for most of his career. I’m not surprised he shit the bed post season.
he needs to get out of jgr He’s a fourth wheel there. next year is going to be the Golden Child Gibbs that’s going to get everything with Hamlin and Bell fighting for second place.
I'd love to see Dale Jr put him in a Jr Motorsports car if he ever brought the team to Cup, maybe it'll happen when they get rid of charters.
My guy should have been in the final four
4:19 aw yes the round of 2
This system is stupid. Nascar should make ammends in the system.
RIP Sherry Pollex
Absolutely
In all honesty he should’ve never even made the Round of 12, let alone the Round of 8
everyone’s mentioning sherry pollex as a reason for his troubles, but it really isn’t true. Darlington, Kansas, and Bristol, all of which were pretty bad races (Kansas not being their fault to be fair) all of which were before, or right around the announcement, so the downward trends start came well before her passing
Martin Truex, Jr did so poor cause NASCAR has poor "playoff" system. It the points were old school, Truex might of done well. By the way I'm not a Truex fan
he’s my favorite driver so this was hard to watch
The worst C.C. ever
Out of gas at Sonoma
Look at RCR when his grandsons took priority over established future Cup champions.
Not we see MTJ at Joe Gibbs and Ty Gibbs is the #1 priority once again over experienced championship winning driver.
Leaving JGR would do him a lot of good.
Ok I am so confused by this comment...I don't see how Ty Gibbs is priority in the team when they took his pit crew from him (3rd fastest during reg season) and put them with a playoff team. Also, MTJ's other two teammates were serious contenders this year; Bell made champ 4, and Hamlin was the fastest during most of the playoffs; he may have choked but tbh he always chokes. I think a lot of people just like to not like Ty Gibbs lol.
I didn't like Ty Gibbs last year but I think he's grown up since losing his dad and graduating to Cup, he's not been getting into real controversies.
Get rid of the playoffs and go back to the points system
Kyle busch
Martin Truex, Jr. is cute
You think middle-aged beardos are "cute"? Weird...
@@JustGenius2001 yes I do it not weird a girl can find a guy like Martin truex Jr cute. You just can't accept other people have different tastes then you call people weird maybe accept that people are different and have different likes be kind and respectful. Have a good day
@@BeautifulAngelBlossom Hey, sorry for offending you but don't go assume that I think people are weird for having different tastes. If you like burly men, good for you👍
his girlfriend dying had a lot to do with what happened
I used to like Truex but I’m finding it a struggle with the way he whines and bitches at his crew over the radio
Because he's a disgrace for going to the team that killed the team he was at before.
You could just say he choked as he is as big of a choker as denny hamlin
Truex is a champion, Denny isn't
Dumb comment lol
Honestly he was just lucky to make the round of 8
Once Harvick retires, I'm done with SPECAR
Well, bye then cuz Harvick will be officially done with Cup Series racing after the final lap of the championship race at Phoenix.
@@JustGenius2001 My point exactly. Enjoy the boring ass personalities that are left.
No. Harvicks in 2020 was much bigger. Truex Jr will be a playoff driver next year but not win the championship
Threw it for Hamlin
Nah. My vote for the biggest collapse is Harvick 2020. Tell me again…how many wins did he have that year? Tell me again….what happened to him in the playoffs?
As a fan, I’m glad Elliot won it in the end, but any guy that wins 9 races in a season deserves to win the cup.
Age is why he fell off
Age between regular season and playoffs?
He seems like a good guy, it is just a damn shame he drives a goddamn Toyota. So hope he never wins. HATE having Toyota in Nascar. Ruins the sport because you a pulling for certain drivers but at the same time hoping the Toyotas go straight to the back. HATE JGR with a passion.
Karma he dumped his dieing girlfriend so he got dumped out of the playoffs hope he never wins another race
Jeff Gordon 05 and Dale JR 2008
I think mtj will be better in 2024. He will have some time to cope with sherry's death and come back in February better than ever