Truex & Gibbs Weather Darlington Chaos For Playoff Berths

Martin Truex Jr. (left) and Ty Gibbs (Photos by John Harrelson & Danny Hansen/NKP for Toyota Racing)

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Though they both endured their share of adversity Sunday night at Darlington Raceway, both Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs survived the Cook Out Southern 500 to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Truex only needed to finish 18th or better to lock up a playoff berth, but his destiny, admittedly, wasn’t in his control after a lap-three crash eliminated his No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE and left him 36th in the 37-car field.

He was racing William Byron for seventh when the two got together in turn one, eventually sending Truex’s car up into the outside SAFER Barrier. The incident also collected defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney.

“Yeah, I just got a run on the 24 [Byron] off of [turn] four, got to the inside off of one and the car just slid more than I expected,” Truex said. “[On] brand new tires, usually you can kind of keep them from sliding up into that. Got on the outside and it just took off on me and I got in the left rear of the 24.

“Wrecked myself, wrecked (Ryan) Blaney. It’s inexcusable for lap one, I know better.”

The accident briefly put Truex below the playoff cut line, jeopardizing his chances at a second series title in his final full-time season.

“This is miserable. I just hate it for my team and Bass Pro Shops and Toyota – everybody that works so hard on our car on the No. 19 team. I feel terrible for them – they deserve better. It’s just a mistake.”

However, for Truex, a ray of sun later broke through his clouds of gloom. When fellow playoff bubble driver Chris Buescher failed to score points in the second stage, it mathematically locked Truex into the postseason, after he originally entered Sunday’s regular season finale with a 58-point buffer.

The 2017 Cup Series champion announced earlier this summer that this year would be his final full-time effort at the sport’s highest level. Now he has the opportunity to add to his storied career one more time.

But the path to the playoffs wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the Mayetta, N.J., native. Through 26 races, Truex only has four top-five and nine top-10 finishes, down significantly compared to his past two seasons in the Next Gen car.

Add in the uncertainty of the win-and-you’re-in system, with drivers like Harrison Burton and Austin Cindric stealing playoff spots, and the summer stretch for Truex and his Joe Gibbs Racing team was pivotal.

Since Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in June, Truex only has two top 10s: one at Iowa Speedway and the other at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

He’ll want to better that run of performance considerably if he wants to go out on top with a second title.

For Gibbs, he ran solidly most of the race before being swept up in the seven-car, lap-344 crash in turn one that led to the final caution flag of the night.

Despite the damage sustained in the incident, Gibbs still soldiered on to a 20th-place finish, one lap down after leading a lap earlier in the night and banking nine stage points.

It allowed him to secure his place in the postseason by 12 points over 17th-ranked Chris Buescher.

“That [finish] was really unfortunate,” Gibbs said. “I was really confused at it. Tried to get wrecked in (turns) three and four and then went and got finished off. I don’t know what was going on. That was unfortunate.

“I wish we could’ve run better. I really love this track and have so much fun racing here,” Gibbs added. “My car was so good. I wish we could’ve finished better but most importantly we made the Playoffs and that’s what we came here to do. We accomplished that so I’m very happy to be able to make it.”

This season, the 21-year-old has seven top fives and 11 top 10s through 26 races.

Despite not yet having a win, Gibbs has proven his doubters wrong and will race for a championship for the first time. He joins Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Truex, Christopher Bell, and Denny Hamlin in the playoffs, as all four cars from the organization qualified for the postseason.

“It’s good to get in. I really just wanted to win this thing,” Gibbs noted. “It’s great that we made it in. We tried to get wrecked that whole entire lap and then they pretty much finished us off down there [in turn one], which is unfortunate. I would expect something different, but I don’t know what was happening with 30-something to go. It was unfortunate. It’s frustrating because I really love this place.”

The good news now? Both Gibbs and Truex can put their Darlington frustrations behind them and focus forward on chasing a Cup Series championship, which would be JGR’s sixth premier series title.

The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs begin at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway with the Quaker State 400 available at Walmart. Coverage kicks off Sunday, Sept. 8 at 3 p.m. ET on USA, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.