Martin Truex Jr. had a tough day from the pole position and was involved in three incidents that led to a 38th-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway.
Truex was running third when he hit the wall in Turn 2 on Lap 19 of a scheduled 160 of Monday's Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway. He came in for repairs and fell a lap down.
On Lap 40, Truex's right-front tire went down, and he came down pit road for more repairs. The four-time career winner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series went to the garage for repairs shortly thereafter and returned on Lap 59.
Truex would find trouble for a third time on Lap 98, smacking the wall in Turn 1 to bring out a caution. The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota would bring his car around to the garage and call it a day after the last incident.
"Just blew a right front (tire)," Truex said of the first incident. "A lug nut bounced off the ground, fell in behind the wheel behind a pit stop. It's just bad luck honestly. I knew something wasn't right in (Turn) one and two and I got real tight off of (Turn) two on that restart and went down the back and was like, 'Ah, it feels OK.' And, as I got closer to the tunnel turn I felt it start to go down and by the time I let off and tried to slow down it was just going straight for the fence."
Truex came in as the polesitter and was one of the favorites after leading final practice. He was also running the same car that dominated to the tune of leading 392 of 400 laps in the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Truex was hoping that the team could get this particular car fixed up since it has been such a great car for the him and the organization
"That was my initial thought after it happened is like, 'Alright, let's go to the garage and make sure we don't blow another tire and destroy the thing,' " Truex said.
"The car was so good. I was literally on cruise control and driving away. I don't know -- frustrating but it's racing I guess."
The Furniture Row Racing driver led the first 16 laps of Monday's race at Pocono before a scheduled competition caution.
Brad Keselowski and Greg Biffle, who stayed out, were the lead cars on a Lap 18 restart.
During that restart, Paul Menard lost power and fell back in the field, causing cars to maneuver around him. Menard went to the garage and returned 16 laps down.
Goodyear tweeted out the official diagnosis on both of Truex's incidents.