Kyle Busch disavows empathy for Martin Truex Jr.’s playoff woes, declares he ‘doesn’t feel sorry for them’

Martin Truex Jr. enters Bristol staring at elimination down the barrel.

Kyle Busch disavows empathy for Martin Truex Jr.’s playoff woes, declares he ‘doesn’t feel sorry for them’

Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch (Via IMAGO)

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., the reigning regular-season champion of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series, is teetering on the edge of playoff elimination. And the man who seems to have no sympathy for his plight is his former teammate, Kyle Busch. The 2017 champion has been stunning in his first season at Richard Childress Racing.

Truex Jr.’s journey this season has been a rollercoaster ride. After clinching the regular season championship and amassing 15 valuable playoff points, hopes were high for the No:19 driver. However, the playoffs have not been kind to him. With two subpar performances in Darlington and Kansas, the JGR driver now faces the grim prospect of being the first-ever regular season champion in NASCAR history to bow out in the opening playoff round.

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Kyle Busch had a redemption arc that of movies this season. After facing a disastrous 2022 campaign, he is now in the mix for the title. However, he seems to have little sympathy for his former teammate’s struggles. In a recent media interaction, he didn’t mince words and told Frontstretch, “I don’t feel sorry for them. It sucks. It’s this time of year it happened to us as well too, you know.”

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Busch’s sentiment resonates with the brutal reality of playoff racing. In this unforgiving sport, one bad race or a string of unfortunate events can drastically alter a driver’s playoff fate. Busch experienced a similar rollercoaster ride, acknowledging, “We could have won the regular season championship if it wasn’t for four bad weeks in six weeks, you know.”

Discover: Martin Truex Jr. admits he is in a TERRIBLE spot going into the Bristol race

Kyle Busch suggests that Martin Truex Jr.’s struggles could make way for a surprised contender

Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.
Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. (Credits: NASCAR)

The stakes are undeniably high for Truex Jr. as he enters Bristol, his final chance to secure a spot in the next playoff round. His confidence, though slightly shaken, remains intact. But the path ahead won’t be easy, and he’ll need more than just optimism to overcome his current predicament. He sits 13th in the standings and is 7 points adrift from the minimum cut-off for round 2 of playoffs. 

In the grand scheme of things, Truex Jr.’s unexpected struggles have thrown NASCAR playoff predictions into disarray. Many had counted him as a shoo-in for the championship four, but now, that certainty has crumbled. Kyle Busch cheekily suggested that this could open the door for an unexpected contender. He said, “I think there were a lot of playoff brackets chosen without the #8 car making it out of the 16. Probably not very many of them had the #19 out either, so it’s going to blow up a lot of them.”

As the NASCAR world braces itself for the Bristol showdown, Truex Jr. is not alone in his precarious position. Big names like Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano are also on the brink of elimination. All eyes will be on Truex Jr. if he can make his way into the round of 12 with a bit of better luck on his side. 

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