Martin Truex, Jr.’s Qualifying Time Disallowed
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| Martin Truex, Jr. |
Martin Truex, Jr. will be forced to start at the rear of the field for Sunday's CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway after his qualifying time from Saturday's opening round of qualifying was disallowed.
Truex, Jr. was penalized for dropping below the double yellow lines during his qualifying run, where he was running third at the time. He ended up running a lap of 191.762 mph which would have earned him a 21st-place starting spot.
Truex's team also lost their pit stall selection and will have last choice for their spot on pit road.
Truex, Jr. said after qualifying that he was unaware for the rule, which NASCAR issued prior to the last restrictor-plate race at Daytona back in July.
"Yeah, I didn't know you couldn't do that here in qualifying," said Truex, Jr. "The last couple of times we have been here we have run on the apron through the tri-oval. Apparently there was a memo sent out and I never got it. I don't really know what to say."
Despite the setback, Truex, Jr. says it won't change his team's strategy for the race, as they had planned to drop to the back of the field anyway
"(Our strategy) won't change at all. Same as everybody else, trying to get to the end," said Truex, Jr. "We started in the back last time too. We will be fine."
Pete McCole