The 2024 Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 21, delivered mixed emotions from the Joe Gibbs Racing camp. As Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin raced their way into the Playoff’s Round of 12, teammates Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. were the first two competitors left on the outside looking in as their championship hopes of the season evaporated.
After finishing 17th and 22nd, respectively, during the Round of 16’s first two events, Gibbs, who came into Bristol with a six-point advantage and clinging onto the final transfer spot to the Round of 12, was in position to transfer into the next round as he spent a majority of the first stage period racing within the top-10 mark.
Then, despite racking up three stage points by finishing eighth after the first stage period, Gibbs’ Playoff run hit a roadblock due to the Charlotte native speeding on pit road and being sent to the rear of the field. Despite dropping below the cutline in the Playoff standings and spending a majority of the second stage period being mired outside the top-20 mark, Gibbs remained within striking contention as he proceeded to cap off the second stage period in 18th place.
Throughout the final stage period, Gibbs would methodically carve his way from the top-20 mark to racing inside the top-10. As the laps dwindled amid a long green-flag run to the finish, however, Gibbs’ handling started to give in, which dropped the driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota out of the top 10 mark. When the checkered flag flew, Gibbs crossed the finish line in 15th place, one lap down, and was the first competitor to be left outside of the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings by 11 points.
The early exit from the Playoffs left Gibbs disappointed as this season marks his first time qualifying for a Cup Series Playoffs, where he made the postseason on the strengths of seven top-five results and 11 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch. Having notched the 2023 Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year title, Gibbs now has seven races remaining on the 2024 schedule to notch his first career victory in NASCAR’s premier series.
“It was just unfortunate there,” Gibbs said on USA Network. “I felt like we were really good [in] practice and qualifying. [I was] Just a little bit too loose tonight. [The car] fired off too tight. Just unfortunate. Speeding penalty’s on me. My fault. Proud of these [No. 54] guys, all the effort they’ve given me and we’ll keep hammering down.”
Like Gibbs, teammate Martin Truex Jr. was also hampered with a pit road speeding penalty, the latter of which occurred late in the event, that cost him an opportunity to transfer past the Playoff’s Round of 16.
Truex, who came into Bristol 14 points below the cutline after finishing 35th and 20th, respectively, throughout the Round of 16, had a strong performance being generated on the track. With finishes of fourth and second in both stage periods and accumulating 16 stage points, he was in a prime position of both racing his way into the next Playoff round and contending for the victory.
Then during a late caution period before the final restart period with 130 laps remaining, Truex’s strong night of racing within the top five evaporated as he was penalized for speeding on pit road after he initially exited pit road in second place behind Kyle Larson. After restarting towards the tail end of the field following his pit road penalty, Truex never recovered as he would eventually be lapped by Larson. Ultimately, he would proceed to finish in 24th place and as the 14th competitor scored a lap down, which was enough to make him the second competitor in line to be eliminated from the Playoffs and missing it by 21 points.
The disappointment of not transferring into the Round of 12 was apparent on Truex’s face, with the competitor accepting the blame for the late error that cost him and his No. 19 Toyota team a spot into the next Playoff round. The disappointment was also apparent as the 2017 Cup Series champion will not contend for a second title in his 19th and final full-time season competing in NASCAR’s premier series. Like Gibbs, Truex, whose last Cup victory occurred at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July 2023, has seven races remaining on this year’s schedule to claim at least one race victory in his final full-time campaign.
“It’s really tough when it’s 0.09 miles per hour that screws your whole chance at a good season up,” Truex said. “I don’t know how that happened. It’s on me. Obviously, it’s my mistake. [The No. 19 team] said that we were gonna have to run second or third there to have a chance [of advancing] and I don’t know if we could’ve done it, but it would’ve been nice to see. Just really sad for my guys. They work so hard. We had a really strong car tonight. We got a lot of stage points. We did what we needed to do there. [I] Hate that I screwed it up. It would’ve been fun to have a fighting chance. From here, we’ll just go on and try to race hard and hopefully get back to Victory Lane before it’s all said and done.”
Overall, Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. join Brad Keselowski and Harrison Burton as the first four set of competitors to be eliminated from the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs following the Round of 16.
With their championship hopes of the season diminished, the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season for both Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. continues with the next scheduled event at Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, September 29, and air at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.
