Thomas Hatcher joins Truex Jr.’s team for stretch drive

DAYTONA BEACH — With eight races in the regular season, Joe Gibbs Racing’s focus shifted in June to Martin Truex Jr.

The former NASCAR Cup Series champion had already announced two weeks before the current season would be his last, so there was a greater sense of urgency to send him out in a grand manner.

He was winless this year and had gone nearly a year without going to Victory Lane, so the Gibbs organization made changes to increase Truex’s chances, including Middleburg’s Thomas Hatcher packing his air gun and moving from Michael McDowell’s No. 34 Ford over to Truex’s No. 19 Toyota for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.

Hatcher’s first race with Truex was at Nashville. That race was scheduled for 300 laps, and Truex was among the top five in the closing laps, but four accidents pushed the finish to 31 laps of overtime and forced Truex to make a late pit stop for gas. He wound up 24^th.

He struggled on the street course in Chicago and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He blew an engine at Richmond and spun in the fourth turn while running fourth with six laps remaining.

Truex will be at the Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday night. He’s never won at this track, and his average finish is 21.2.

Although he is winless, he is a lock to make the playoffs on points. Since four drivers are eliminated every three races in the playoffs, Hatcher said it’s important Truex enters with momentum.

“I think everybody wants to try to get a win, honestly,” he said. “We want to try to win a championship. I mean, the big focus right now is the championship. We know we have to win races to get a championship.

“I think everybody understands, everybody realizes where we’re at. You want to be able to try to put in driver’s hands and let him make the best of it.”

Now in his 18th NASCAR season as a front tire changer, Hatcher is under contract with JGR, which supplies several teams with pit crews. Hatcher has been shuffled between most of Gibb’s primary teams as the organization searched for a championship.

“I just keep telling myself, ‘Just be a pro,’ but it’s been tough. Every one of the guys on the 34 car is a kid. I’m about to turn 40, and none of them are married. I could be myself there.

“Selfishly, I’m glad I’m back on the house (Gibbs) car. Selfishly, I want to win championships. Selfishly, I want to win races. I’ve been their go-to guy for the last three or four years. I was on the 20 (driven by Christopher Bell), and when they fell out of the Chase, they moved me to the 18 (driven by Kyle Busch). When the 18 fell out, they moved the whole team to the 11 (driven by Denny Hamlin.)”

Hatcher, who was inducted into Middleburg’s Hall of Fame last year, is one of the oldest on pit road. But he’s still one of the quickest.

He was part of the NASCAR Championship crew with Joey Logano in 2018 and the NASCAR 8.6-second world record pit stop in 2022, which included a four-tire change and the addition of gasoline.

The move back to Truex’s team essentially reunites Hatcher with the same guys that set the world record.

“I still love the pressure,” Hatcher said. “That’s the part I’ve always liked the most.”