Martin Truex Jr. knows outsiders hear the infighting on his Joe Gibbs Racing team radio and assume it’s a sign of bigger troubles within the team.
“We talked right after the race; everything is fine,” Truex said. “It’s frustration. Heat of the moment. We talked Sunday night, Monday, and all week. Everything is fine. It’s just one of those things that happens.”
The former NASCAR Cup Series champion offered the reassurance Saturday at the Bristol dirt race. Truex said he and crew chief James Small, who went back and forth on the radio after the checkered flag last weekend at Richmond Raceway, have a great relationship, and sometimes frustration comes out.
“It’s part of what you do,” Truex said. “It’s intense competition.”
Truex finished 11th at Richmond on scuffed tires. He’d gone from fighting for the race lead when the final caution of the race flew and sent the field to pit road. The No. 19 team didn’t have a set of stickers, so Truex was a disadvantage.
At one point, he said it was a “(expletive) nightmare” as he battled to the end of the race. Further comments laced in frustration on the radio after the race caught everyone’s attention.
“We (expletive) hosed ourselves,” Small radioed. “We were (expletive) out of tires. We had that seven-lap scuffs there, so we were (expletive).”
Small further explained, “We had (expletive) scuffed tires on there because we hosed ourselves taking that set in stage one. So, we were (expletive) regardless. Sorry. We (expletive) up.”
Truex had no idea he was on older tires during the race.
“I wouldn’t have been so…surprised and frustrated,” he said. “I just didn’t know; it was a surprise to me. I would have been more prepared, I guess.”
Truex said he and Small didn’t discuss why he wasn’t told about the tire situation.