Martin Truex Jr. Richmond Advance

CORNELIUS, N.C. — The Sprint All-Star race is just three weeks away and NAPA Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. is hot on the campaign trail seeking votes from race fans. Truex is officially launches his “Tried and TrueX” campaign this weekend at Richmond International Raceway (RIR). He’ll appear Saturday at the Sprint Experience as well as film segments for SPEED-TV’s NASCAR Race Hub, NASCAR Smarts and NASCAR Race Day asking fans to vote. Truex says he wants nothing more than to be a part of NASCAR’s no-holds-barred extravaganza.

QUOTES

Truex Jr. on the Sprint All-Star Fan Vote: “We are going to have fun with the “Tried and TrueX” campaign. We wanted to obviously include all the fans and let them know that we appreciate their votes. I have had the privilege of making it into the All-Star race all three ways, but the year I won the Fan Vote, I obviously didn’t know I had won the vote when we were running in The Open. I was out there trying to win. I could kind of tell how the race was going. My team was competitive, but we didn’t have a shot at winning it. When I took the checkered flag, my team told me that we were voted in. I couldn’t believe it. My day had gone from, ‘I hate that I have to drive home and watch it on TV’ to ‘Wow, I’m in!’

Truex Jr. on racing at Richmond: “I’ve had good runs at Richmond in the past and I like racing there. But right now, Pat and I are really focused on figuring out the MWR cars. We just aren’t where we need to be right now with that. We’ve lost some valuable track time over the last couple of weeks with Saturday practices being rained out. I think that’s hurt this new team when it came to places like Phoenix and Texas — places Pat and I normally run very well. We tested on Monday at Gresham Motorsports Park (Jefferson, Ga.) to prepare for Richmond and I hope the extra track time will bring us up to speed so we can run Richmond like we both are accustomed to.”

Martin Truex Jr. Talladega Advance

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Talladega Superspeedway has produced mixed results for NAPA Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver has always been fast, but for some reason he’s found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time when racing in the Cup Series. Truex hopes the success he had in his first outing in his NAPA Toyota in the Daytona 500 (sixth) will be replicated at Talladega. However, Truex points outs even though they look alike, the two restrictor plate tracks drive dramatically different.

QUOTES

Truex Jr. on Talladega: “In the Nationwide Series, we have always seemed to find a way to get ourselves in contention to win at Talladega. I enjoy racing there. For some reason, Cup Series racing at Talladega hasn’t been good to me. I have had good runs going, but I always seem to get caught up in the big wreck. It’s been kind of a crap shoot. It’s a lot of fun to race, I just need some luck.”

Truex Jr. on Daytona versus Talladega: “At Daytona, we had a good NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota, but Daytona and Talladega are completely different. Daytona is all about handling. We weren’t the fastest car there. We actually struggled a little bit for speed throughout the week. As the track got slicker and slicker, it became more of a handling track. It really came to us.

“Talladega on the other hand is completely opposite. It’s all about speed. Everyone handles well. It’s about how good your body is on your car and how good your motor is. It’s all about raw speed. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. We had a test there (March 16). We weren’t really fast by ourselves which was like Daytona, but in race packs, it really was good and fast. I am looking forward to going back and getting a good finish.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

The driver of the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota will be competing in his 162nd NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

This will be Truex’s 11th race at the 2.66-mile track. His best start is third (April 26, 2009)and best finish is fifth (Oct. 8, 2006).

During his career, Truex has earned one top–five, two top-10 and three top-25 finishes at Talladega. His average start is 20th and his average finish is 28th.

He has completed 1556 of 1897 laps (82%) and has led 29 laps in competition.

The DIRECTV Head2Head Knockout promotion enters its second week. Truex advanced after finishing ahead of Jeff Burton at Texas. He now takes on AJ Allmendinger at Talladega. The head-to-head “races within the races” plays out over the course of the next three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, and in classic “bracket-tournament” fashion, fans can enter their own bracket predictions at www.DIRECTV.com/NASCAR for the chance to win $1 million or a car. Drivers are competing to raise money for their favorite charities. Truex is racing for the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation.

Next Monday (April 26), the NAPA Racing team will be testing at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga., in preparations for the upcoming NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway.

HELP MARTIN: The first annual Catwalk for a Cause: A Celebration of Fashion Benefiting the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation takes place May 18 at River Run Country Club in Davidson, N.C. For more event information, visit martintruexjrfoundation.org or lavendarboutique.com.

Samsung Mobile 500 NAPA Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. —  Martin Truex Jr. is looking to get his numbers back up. A top-20 finish at Saturday night’s Phoenix International Raceway was not what he had in mind especially at one of his favorite tracks. Despite his disappointment, this weekend’s stop at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway has the driver of the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota ready to rebound.

QUOTES

Truex Jr. on Texas: My driver ranking heading into last season was third. But somehow I struggled at both Texas events and I don’t know why. I really like racing there. I expect to turn things around. What I like about Texas is it takes a complete package. You have to have a great motor, a great aero package and a great chassis. Downforce is also important. It is one of the fastest places we go to and you have to like to go fast. That’s what I like about Texas. You spend a lot of time in the throttle and during the race, the key is to get your car turning well.

Truex on the Texas spoiler: I think Texas will be the ultimate test for the new spoiler since it is one of the fastest tracks we go to. It will also come into play with all of the side-by-side racing we do. We’ll definitely see how this new change effects all of us and obviously, the teams that can figure it out should do well and I hope that is us.

Crew Chief Pat Tryson on success at Texas: Last year Michael Waltrip Racing had good cars at Texas and I look for more of the same. We had a really good test at Charlotte (March 23 & 24) which I think will really help us with the new spoiler. It’s just a matter of me understanding what will make Martin happy with the combination of what I used to run and what we learned at the Charlotte test. I think we have the potential to have a really good weekend.

Tryson on the keys to Texas: You have to be able to really turn well in the center. It makes your exit a lot easier so you don’t get too loose off.

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• The driver of the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota will be competing in his 161st  NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

• This will be Truex’s 10th  race at the 1.5-mile track. His best start is first and best finish is third. Both took place on Nov. 4, 2007.

• During his career, Truex has earned one top–five, four top-10 and eight top-25 finishes at TMS. His average start is 19th and his average finish is 15th.

• At TMS, he currently ranks 12th amongst drivers in performance over the last nine races.

• He has completed 3004 of 3016 laps (99.6%) and has led 20 laps in competition.

• The DIRECTV Head 2 Head Knockout promotion kicks off this week. In round one, Truex will take on Jeff Burton. The head-to-head “races within the races” will play out over the course of the next four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, and in classic “bracket-tournament” fashion, fans can enter their own bracket predictions at www.DIRECTV.com/ NASCAR for the chance to win $1 million or a car.

• The first annual Catwalk for a Cause: A Celebration of Fashion Benefiting the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation takes place May 18 at River Run Country Club in Davidson, N.C. For more event information, visit martintruexjrfoundation.org or lavendarboutique.com. 

Michael Waltrip Racing Phoenix Post Race Report

· Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry - finished 17th - now 19th in points.

· David Reutimann, No. 00 Best Western Toyota Camry - finished 20th - now 25th in points.

Martin Truex Jr. Race Summary:  Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 00 NAPA Toyota team endured about everything that could ruin a Saturday night for a race team at Phoenix International Raceway. A slow start then a penalty along with an  unscheduled pit stop plus contact with another car were some of the issues encountered by the Michael Waltrip race team. And that was just in the first half of the race. The team never stopped working on the car and enjoyed a relatively calm second half of the race until about 60 laps remaining. On a restart, Truex dropped from 12th to 22nd telling crew chief Pat Tryson he’d lost all forward bite. But, Truex rallied to climb to 15th in the closing laps. Truex survived the wild scramble in a green-white-checkered finish to cross the line in 17th. The result moved him to 19th in points. 

Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota

• Truex Jr. started 8th and finished 17th

• Truex started slowly in the opening laps falling from eighth to 13th with a loose race car.

• NASCAR sent him to the back of the field on lap 19 for entering pit lane too early dropping him to about 36th.

• A loose wheel caused by a lug nut lodging between wheel and brake rotor forced an unscheduled, green-flag stop on lap 77 dropping Truex down a lap to 39th place.

• The new tires enabled him to turn the quickest laps on the track over the long green flag run that followed.

• Kurt Busch’s crash at lap 136—a few laps after the leaders pitted but before Truex pitted—allowed Truex to pit under caution and return to lead lap in 19th.

• While running 14th, Truex and Brad Keselowski made contact on lap 198. Keselowski spun into the wall.

• Truex then began a climb moving as high as 10th after a pit stop on lap 254.

• Truex raced in 12th with 60 laps remaining, but on a restart he dropped to 22nd telling Tryson he had lost all of the car’s forward bite: “I can’t touch the gas.”

• A caution with two laps to go saw the field come to pit lane and Truex move from 19th to 15th taking four tires.

• Truex came home 17th after the final two-lap shootout.

TRUEX QUOTE: "We rallied back from adversity after having that loose wheel and had a top-10 finish going, but the handling really went away after our second to last stop. It killed us. I don't know what happened -- maybe we had a bad set of tires. We got ourselves back to 15th on the final stop, but it just didn't handle right. It's frustrating because this is one of my favorite tracks."

David Reutimann Race Summary:  Except for a slight encounter with the turn four wall, No. 00 Best Western Toyota driver David Reutimann enjoyed a fairly quiet night at Phoenix International Raceway posting an 20th place finish. Like most of the 43-car field, Reutimann fought handling issues on the slippery, flat, mile oval. After starting 39th, Reutimann charged through the field climbing into the top 15. A punctured right rear slowed his progress midway through the race but the Florida native resumed his charge until the brush with the wall at lap 253 damaged the rear of his Camry. He stayed on the lead lap the remainder of the race climbing as high as 15th before a late caution forced a green-white-checkered finish. Reutimann crossed the finish line in 20th. The finish moves Reutimann to 25th in points.

David Reutimann, No. 00 BEST WESTERN Toyota

• Reutimann started 39th and finished 20th

• Reutimann looked to be one of the fastest cars on the track working his way in to the top 20 by lap 30.

• A punctured right rear tire slowed his progress near the halfway mark and he fell to about 24th.

• At lap 253 Reutimann spun and made contact with the wall causing body damage to the rear of his Toyota and dropping him to 26th.

• He spent the rest of the race on the lead lap turning very competitive lap times climbing to 15th.

• A caution with two laps to go saw Reutimann line up 17th for the green-white checkered.

REUTIMANN QUOTE: “We kind of had an up-and-down race. We started at the back and had to race really hard in the beginning. We made up a ton of spots early, but then the car kind of went away from us. We had a tire issue and that hurt us. There on the wreck I was just trying too hard to hang on to it and it just got away. My guys got it fixed and we were pretty good after that. That green-white-checkered cost us a couple spots.”

RACE NOTES:

• Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin and Juan Montoya swept the top five spots.

• A green-white-checkered jumbled the field at the end of the race and saw leaders Kyle Busch and Jimmie

• Johnson line up seventh and eighth for the two-lap shootout.

• Newman, who took only two tires on the pit stop, beat Jeff Gordon on the restart then held on to beat Gordon by .13 seconds and snapped a 77-race winless streak.

• The race saw 20 lead changes among 13 drivers. There were nine cautions for 59 laps.

• The average speed was 99.372mph.

• Race promoters added 63 laps (now 375 laps/miles or 600 Kilometers) to Saturday night’s race to insure the final laps could be run under the lights. The race took 3 hours, 48 mins and 13 secs.

• NASCAR allowed the teams an extra man over the wall to service the windshields because of all the bugs at the track.

• NASCAR estimated the attendance at 70,000.