Martin Truex Brickyard 400 Report

Martin Truex Jr. Race Summary: No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. saw a sure top-10 finish spoiled in the final quarter of Sunday’s Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver suffered front end damage on a restart that took him out of contention for the victory. A late race pit stop for a loose wheel dropped him off the lead lap. Until then, the No. 56 looked to be the strongest Toyota and one of the strongest of all cars in the race never venturing outside the top 10 except during pit stop cycles. The 26th-place finish keeps Truex 20th in points. The Sprint Cup series returns to action Sunday at Pocono International Raceway.




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

Truex Jr. started 12th and finished 26th.

Truex raced in the top 10 throughout the race as the highest running Toyota.

Raced in seventh when caution fell with 42 laps remaining.

Restarted the race in 13th after a problem with the jack during the pit stop.

Truex fell back to 22nd after making contact with another car on the restart causing extensive front end damage.

After repairs, a loose wheel forced Truex to pit in the final five laps dropping him off the lead lap.



TRUEX QUOTE: “It's a shame. We had a top-five Toyota and got back in traffic after a jack problem on our pit stop with about 40 to go. The restart bit us again when the cars started getting bunched up. We got damage to the nose and right side. The NAPA Know How crew did all they could. It just didn't handle competitively after that and then we had to pit late in the race for a vibration (loose right front wheel). I just hate it that our good runs are being taken away like this. I'm so disappointed.”
RACE NOTES:


Jamie McMurray won the Brickyard 400 (17th Running), his fifth victory in 278 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart rounded out the top five.

There were 14 lead changes among 10 leaders and six cautions for 25 laps. Twenty five cars finished on lead lap.

Kevin Harvick leads the point standings by 184 points over Jeff Gordon.

Chip Ganassi became the first owner to win the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and the Indy 500 in the same year

Martin Truex Jr. Indy Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Crew Chief Pat Tryson and driver Martin Truex Jr. hope to replicate what teammate David Reutimann did two weeks ago in Chicagoland and make it two wins in a row for Michael Waltrip Racing. Sunday’s running of the Brickyard 400 is one of the most prestigious races on the schedule. For the 30-year-old from Mayetta, N.J., kissing the bricks would rank up there with winning a Daytona 500.

Truex spent the off weekend around his home in North Carolina and tuned in to ESPN2 to watch little brother Ryan make his Nationwide debut Saturday night at Gateway International Raceway. The younger Truex raced from mid-pack to eighth before an accident ended his race about 20 laps before the finish.

QUOTES

Martin Truex Jr. on Running at Indy: “The Brickyard 400 is a big deal. You really feel the history when you walk in there and think about all of the Indy 500s and Brickyard 400s and all of the great finishes and great drivers winning. It’s one of those key races of the year where everybody wants to go there and win it. It reminds me of the Daytona 500. Obviously we’re coming off a big weekend with David winning and we had a great night so things are going well at Michael Waltrip Racing. I’m looking forward to running the NAPA Toyota again. It’s funny. You get these weekends off and you think, ‘Oh yeah, a weekend off is coming up.’ Then you get to the weekend and you feel like you should be doing something. I can’t wait to get back to the track. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Truex on NAPA Team’s Indy Preparations: “Our team preparation for this big race is not that much different than what we do all year long. It’s not like we have to build a special car to go there like we do at Daytona and Talladega. It’s a flat track with long straight-aways. It’s somewhat similar to Pocono. I think a lot of guys look back at Pocono and judge from that race as to what they need to work on and prepare for Indy. I feel confident that we can use some of what we learned from Pocono for this event. Obviously we also want to take our best engine and TRD gave us something to work with at Chicago for sure.”

On Watching Brother Ryan’s Debut at Gateway Last Weekend: “I stayed home because I get really nervous watching him. I was still a little bit nervous following practice on the computer. I obviously watched qualifying and the race. He ended up doing probably better than I thought. He did a great job, and I think I’ll be OK to go to the next one. I just didn’t want to go there and put any extra pressure on him. I know he had a lot of people watching him and he had a lot of pressure on him, so I didn’t want to add to that. He did a great job and what impressed me was his ability to stay pretty calm both on and off the track. He did good with it. He ran a really good race all but the last 20 laps. I think he learned a lot and I think he earned respect from the other drivers and had a good first outing. I’m proud of him.”

Crew Chief Pat Tryson on Indy Challenges: “Qualifying can influence how well you run there. If you get a bad draw, it can get you behind because it is so tough to pass there unless you have a really, really good car. If you go back to last year, Juan Pablo Montoya had the best car there and was driving away with it until he got a pit road penalty. He came out 12th and could only pick up one spot on the track. It’s a tough track because it is so hard to pass. To have a chance at the win, you need a good motor and a car that can really turn well.”

NOTES

NAPA AUTO PARTS continues to bring Martin Truex Jr. fans a little bit closer to the action. On Sunday at Indy and lasting through the remainder of the season, NAPA is making the Michael Waltrip Racing team’s in-car audio available free of charge to fans who register at www.nascar.com/napatruexscanner or http://www.napaonline.com/. Tune in and enjoy the race!

Sunday’s race is Truex’s 172nd Sprint Cup Series start and sixth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His best start of 13th came last year and in 2007, he recorded his best finish of 12th. During his career, he has two top-15 and four top-25 finishes. His average start and finish is 22nd. He has led three laps in competition.

Truex Chicagoland Race Report

• Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry - 11th finished – 20th in points.

Martin Truex Jr. Race Summary: It was all about finding the right air pressure combination during tonight's 400-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup event at Chicagoland Speedway for NAPA Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. The early stages saw the 30-year-old from Mayetta, N.J. run as high as second. Approaching the halfway mark, Truex remained comfortably in the top-10, but needed a few tweaks to climb back into winning contention. Unfortunately a problem with an air gun socket during the team's stop on lap 183 dropped the NAPA Toyota from ninth to 13th position. Truex was able to climb back to 11th place before his teammate Reutimann scored the victory. This coming weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is off, but will return the following week to the hallowed grounds of Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25.


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

• Truex Jr. started eighth

• Truex and Johnson raced for second place when Johnson spun and brought out the third caution of the night

• On the Lap 22 pit stop, the NAPA Know How Pit Crew picked up three spots on pit road

• Truex fought a extremely loose-handling race car in the closing laps and finished the race 11th

• Truex remains 20th in the NASCAR championship point standings, 226 out of the top 12

TRUEX QUOTE: "I am so happy for David. We should have been up there with him. At night our car just got really loose off. We could have been better than that but we may have missed it a little on air pressure. Regardless, we got a decent finish and our teammate got the win. I hope he enjoys the celebration tonight. He deserves it."

RACE NOTES:

• David Reutimann won the LIFELOCK.COM 400 at Chicagoland Speedway

• Carl Edwards (second) posted his second top-10 finish in six races at Chicagoland Speedway

• Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurrary rounded out the top-five

• The race lasted two hours 45 minutes and 34 seconds and featured 10 lead changes among seven drivers

• The race was slowed by four cautions for at total of 21 laps

• The next race is July 25 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Martin Truex Jr. Chicagoland Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — NAPA AUTO PARTS wants to bring Martin Truex Jr. fans a little bit closer to the action Saturday night at Chicagoland Speedway as well as the remaining 18 races in 2010 season —and you won’t even have to leave your couch. To honor the one-year anniversary of signing Truex to drive the No. 56, NAPA will make the Michael Waltrip Racing team’s in-car audio available free of charge to fans who register at www.nascar.com/napatruexscanner or www.NAPAonline.com As an added bonus, Truex has vowed to sing the popular “NAPA Know How” jingle during a pace lap if 1,000 fans sign up.

QUOTES

 

Martin Truex Jr. on NAPA’s in-race scanner offer: “I think it’s cool that NAPA is doing this for our fans because when they watch a race, they don’t always understand what is going on or the emotion that goes in it. If they listen to the in-car scanner of the NAPA Know How Crew, they’ll get a real sense of what we are doing and why it is happening. They’ll hear why we gained or lost a position during a pit stop. Why we took four tires versus two. They’ll hear the excitement when we do a fast stop. They’ll hear how mad I can get when things go bad. Now, they’ll get a sense of the passion of this team over the course of a race and now, the entire second half of our season.”

 

Truex on the one year anniversary of the NAPA announcement: “Time flies when you are having fun. Things have been really going well if we could just get rid of the bad luck. I am really happy with my decision to join Michael Waltrip Racing and am excited about the future. Just a few weeks ago, we were in the top 12 in points. To be in that position and contending for a Chase spot is pretty good with an entirely new team. We continue to get better all the time and this past weekend was the first time we have revisited a track. What a difference it made for us. We went out with a set up we knew was going to work and after 15 minutes of practice, I felt like we could park the car and prepare for the race. We have learned a lot and it’s great to see how far we have come as a group and to now understand what these MWR Toyotas need to go fast.”

Truex on racing at Chicagoland Speedway: “I really enjoy racing there. It’s been a good track for me over the years. It’s really unique because the front and back straightaways are curved. The track has also been weathered a bit so it has some bumps. It’s real wide and has multiple grooves. I like Chicago because you can race from the yellow line to the wall and go fast. It’s also a tough place to set up a car especially during long green flag runs because the track changes. It is not uncommon for you to have a good practice run, but when you go to race, your car won’t be that good any more. It makes for an interesting challenge for us to figure out that balance on set up and how it will change with the track. Some guys will run well with fresh tires and some will run better on older tires. You just have to be able to do both to have a chance on Saturday night.”

Notes

Watch Truex on this week’s edition of Showtime’s Inside NASCAR: http://tiny.cc/5v5tu

 

Saturday’s race is Truex’s 171st Sprint Cup Series race and fifth at Chicagoland. His best start is second (July 15, 2007) and best finish is ninth. (July 12, 2008). During his career, he has one top-10 and three top-20 finishes. His average start is 18th and his average finish is 20th. He has led 14 laps.

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.

NAPA and NASCAR.com Offers Track Pass Free to Truex Fans

One of the exciting features on NASCAR.com is the Track Pass Scanner. Track Pass Scanner enables fans to listen in live to the in-car audio on race day, keeping track of the strategy shared between the driver and the pit crew. Thanks to NAPA AUTO PARTS, fans of the No. 56 team will be able to share the high-demand Track Pass Scanner of Martin Truex Jr. FREE of charge! That’s a savings of $60 per year!

 

Beginning at tonight’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway and continuing for the rest of this season, NAPA race fans can hear the race and live audio of Martin Truex Jr. and the NAPA Know How Crew.

Just go to www.nascar.com/napatruexscanner or visit NAPAonline.com and link from there. All you will have to do is register as a new user and you will have access to the in-race scanner between Martin and the No. 56 team.

Enjoy the race!

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. celebrates his 30th birthday today (Tuesday) and couldn’t be happier with his life. He’s coming off a Truex-family win last weekend when younger brother Ryan won the K&N Pro Series East race at New Hampshire and Saturday big brother gets another shot at Daytona International Speedway —site of a career-best sixth-place finish in the Daytona 500. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver looked strong at both Daytona and Talladega restrictor plate tracks this season and should be a contender Saturday. Truex owns a victory at the historic 2.5-mile track winning the 2005 Nationwide race.

 

QUOTES

 

Truex on Returning to Daytona: “I cannot wait to go back to Daytona. We had a shot to win the Daytona 500. That’s all you can ask for when you go to those plate races. It’s all about making it to the end and having a shot. Our NAPA Toyota was really good throughout the whole race. I felt like we were one of the best handling cars out there. It’s all about handling when we go back there.”

 

On the Differences Between the February and July races: “I think it is going to be a lot different. We have a bigger plate and a spoiler now. It’s going to be really hot as usual. The slicker it is the harder it is to get a hold of the track. With the bigger plate and the new spoiler, if you can get your car handling, you can really make some things happen. We’re really not sure how the spoiler is going to change things. We ran it at Talladega. We saw what it did there, but Daytona is such a different track. Talladega is all about speed and not about handling. Daytona is the opposite. We are going to go there with an open mind and work on it in practice. I feel good about our NAPA Toyota and the package we are taking. It should be a lot of fun.”

 

On the Truex-Family Victory: “It was a neat deal last Friday. There are now three Truexs on the winners list in the K&N Pro Series East at New Hampshire. I think it was really special for my dad. I was a nervous wreck. I want him to do well and enjoy what he is doing. It’s an exciting time for Ryan. He’s leading the East championship and is preparing for his Nationwide Series debut at Gateway.”

Notes

 

Saturday’s race is Truex’s 170th Sprint Cup Series race and 11th at Daytona. His best start at the superspeedway is first (Feb. 15, 2009) and best finish is sixth. (Feb. 14, 2010) During his career at Daytona, Truex has earned a pole, a top-ten and six top–20 finishes. His average start is 16th and his average finish is 20th.

 

In Nationwide Series competition at Daytona, Truex has driven in seven events. His best start is first (Feb. 14, 2004) and best finish is first (July 1, 2005). During his career, Truex has earned three top–five and five top-10 finishes. His average start is 11th and his average finish is ninth.

Truex on Turning 30: “Time flies when you are having fun! It feels like yesterday that I moved down to North Carolina to run the Nationwide Series car. I was just 22 or 23 years old. Age is just a number. I don’t feel 30 so I am doing all right. Yesterday, I opened a present from NAPA. It was a framed picture from our announcement last year and that really means a lot to me. It’s going up in my office. They’ve really welcomed me into the NAPA family and it’s meant a lot.”