"Impossible to pass the leader" - Martin Truex Jr comments on being unable to pass Denny Hamlin at Pocono

Coming off a victory at New Hampshire, Martin Truex Jr. wrapped up his weekend at Pocono with a solid third-place finish. While satisfied with the result, Truex Jr. was gunning for the win, but his teammate Denny Hamlin in the lead proved to be a stern obstacle.

The #19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver started the race on the front row and went on to finish second at the end of the first stage. As the race progressed, Truex Jr. barely managed a top-10 finish at the end of the second stage, later surging to the top in the final stage.

Having spent plenty of laps with the front-runners, he lamented the lack of support from the cars behind as he failed to attack the leader. Speaking to the media after the race, the #19 Toyota driver said (via Frontstretch):

"When I got to second behind the 5 (Kyle Larson), I thought better take the front row and hope for a good push. I fell back to third. I got the front row again, still didn't get a good push.

"At least on the last one, I was able to pull the 4 (Kevin Harvick) off the 11 (Denny Hamlin) and get to second, just impossible to pass the leader. Our car was so fast, but the guy out front would get clean air and be gone. All-in-all great day, track position was king," he added

Martin Truex Jr. in the HighPoint.com 400

However, Martin Truex Jr. was more than delighted with the super-fast Toyota Camry beneath him, as he praised the car and the team for capping off another good weekend.

He said:

"Great day, a great race car, our Interstate Batteries Camry was a rocket. We fought track position all day and finally got it, and drove away from the field until strategy got us back a few spots. All in all, really good speed, good day. I just couldn't get the push from the front row to get the lead back."

With a huge haul of points, Truex Jr. leads the drivers' standings, with William Byron 30 points adrift in second place.

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William Byron praises title rival Martin Truex Jr.

William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. are the title favorites for the NASCAR Cup Series season, with four and three wins, respectively. Ahead of the Pocono race, Byron had mentioned the similarities in driving style with Truex Jr., despite emerging from different backgrounds.

The #24 Hendrick Motorsports driver then revealed that Martin Truex Jr. was one of the few drivers he liked racing against.

"But yeah, I enjoy racing him. I think he races the way people should. I don’t think he does anything super malicious, but he’s aggressive. He’s good to race against. I think there’s five or six guys out there that I really like racing with," he said in the press conference on Saturday.

As the NASCAR playoff season nears, the gloves between the title rivals will be off as Byron aims for his first championship, while Truex Jr. fights for his second.