Truex Daytona Report

Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry - Finished 35th - 20th in points.

Martin Truex Jr. Race Summary: It was the case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time for No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway. The Michael Waltrip Racing Camry climbed into the top five early in the race, but his luck ran out when a piece of metal from Kyle Busch’s wrecked car damaged Truex’s splitter on lap 103. He returned to the track in the back of the pack where he couldn’t avoid a lap 116 multicar accident that severely damaged the NAPA Toyota. Truex returned to the track on lap 144 and finished the race in 35th. Truex is now 20th in points as the Sprint Cup Series travels to Chicagoland for Saturday night’s race.

Notes
• Truex climbed as high as fourth on lap 22.

• On lap 103, a piece of metal from Kyle’s Busch’s wrecked race car damaged Truex’s splitter forcing him to pit road.

• The No. 56 restarted at the back and couldn’t miss a multi-car accident triggered by David Ragan on lap 116.

• Truex went to the garage for repairs and returned to the track on lap 144 then finished the race.


TRUEX QUOTE :"( Lap 116 accident) I'm not quite sure what happened. They all spun in front of me. I saw (David Ragan) up in front of me sideways. He was coming down the track. You just can't slow down. We had a good car. The NAPA Toyota was running really well. When Kyle wrecked, we hit some of his debris and pitted twice because we were afraid the splitter would drag. It got us mid pack around 18th. We then found ourselves in a wreck. We have good cars, but we just can't catch any breaks. It's a shame because the NAPA Know How crew is working hard. The NAPA Toyota was really good and we were running up in the top 10 most of the race.”

RACE NOTES:

• Kevin Harvick won the race in a green-white-checkered finish. Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon rounded out top three.

• A 16-car accident with 12 laps remaining brought out the red flag for just over 19 minutes.

• The race lasted two hours 37 minutes and 19 seconds and featured 47 lead changes among 18 drivers

• The race was slowed by nine cautions for a total of 34 laps

• Rain cancelled qualifying and NASCAR determined the starting order by the point standings.

• Rain also delayed the start of the race more than two hours Saturday night.

• The next race is Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway.