NASCAR CUP SERIES: BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE

September 21, 2024

Martin Truex

Pit Lane Interview

Q. Martin Truex Jr unfortunately will not move on to the Round of 12. Had a speeding penalty, and we heard the disappointment on the radio, taking responsibility for that. How hard is it?

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: It's really tough when it's .09 miles per hour that screws up your whole chance at a good season up. I don't know how that happened. I didn't know I was even that close, honestly. I felt like I did the same thing as every other stop. Sometimes you're just a foot -- maybe I was a foot to the left.

It's so tricky when you're going from that curved section to the straight to get your lights. And it's on me, obviously. It's my mistake. They said we were going to have to run second or third there to have a chance, and I don't know if we could have done it, but it would have been nice to see.

Just really sad for my guys. They work so hard. We had a really strong car tonight, and we got a lot of stage points. We did what we needed there. Just hate I screwed it up. I wish we could have at least seen if we could have done it. It would have been fun to have a fighting chance. From here we'll just go on and try to race hard and get back to Victory Lane before it's all said and done.

Q. You said you're sad for your guys, but what about you? This is your last full-time season. How much does that add to the disappointment of tonight?

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: You never like to let anybody down, no matter what the situation. I hate that I did that tonight.