Truex: "It's a big impact" to have two crew members suspended

Truex will operate sans his regular tire changers at Pocono Raceway.

Both crewmen — Chris Taylor and Lee Cunningham — were suspended for three races following a post-wreck altercation with Adam Stevens, crew chief of the No. 18 team and driver Kyle Busch.

“It’s a tough situation for us to be in—there’s no doubt about that,” Truex said. “I’m obviously not happy about how it all went down. I’m disappointed that I made a mistake, and it got us kind of in this position. I guess it is what it is, and we’ll deal with it the best we can, and we’ll go forward. It’s a big impact when they’re two of the best out there.

“Our pit crew has been amazing this year, putting us in position to win multiple races, not making mistakes—they’ve got everything. Those two guys are unbelievable, what they do. We’re obviously at a disadvantage without them.”

Truex and the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team lead the Monster Energy Cup Series standings. He’s won three of the first 20 races and has 14 stage wins to boot. But last weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Truex was going for the lead with Busch and wrecked the No. 18 JGR. Both drivers ended up on the sidelines following 110 of 160 laps.

Alliance between FRR and JGR

Complicating the situation is the technical alliance between Furniture Row and JGR. Truex hopes this latest run in doesn’t sour the relationship moving forward.

“I hope not,” Truex said. “I don’t think so. Again, it’s unfortunate that the mistake I made on the race track caused all this stuff to blow up.

“I’m proud of our pit crew guys and what they’ve done this year and what they continue to do for us, and like I said, we’ll just get through the next couple weeks as best we can.”