Martin Truex On All-Star Race, Martinsville

CORNELIUS, N.C. — NAPA Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. has been on the campaign trail so-to-speak. Last week he was the featured driver at the Sprint All-Star press conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway where he asked fans to vote for him starting tomorrow. He also gave NASCAR his vote of approval for removing the wing in favor of a spoiler beginning at this weekend’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Change is good as far as this racer is concerned and he’s hoping his luck will change at Martinsville — a track he considers to be one of his toughest.

QUOTES

TRUEX JR. ON THE SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE: “I have been fortunate to have raced in this event three times. I was voted in. I raced my way in and qualified my way in by winning a Sprint Cup Series race in Dover. I can tell you this is an event we all want to be a part of. We put a lot of effort into it. I think it is awesome to get the pit crews involved this year. I think it will be incredible. I have the best pit crew this year. Hopefully I will get the chance in those last 10 laps to show what they can do. I am campaigning this year for the Fan Vote. This is truly a no holds barred event – the best of the best from NASCAR Sprint Cup racing going at it for all the money – a million bucks. There’s nothing better than that. We want to be a part of it. I want to thank all the fans for voting in advance.”

TRUEX JR. ON HAVING THE SPOILER DEBUT AT MARTINSVILLE: “So far everything we have done with the spoilers has gone really well. We had the Talladega test (March 16) and it went really well. We also tested it about two months ago (Jan. 12 & 13) at New Smyrna on a short track. Obviously the Charlotte test is where it really matters the most and today and tomorrow are going to help us learn a lot about the car. My first reaction about going to the spoiler was it looks better. From a competitive standpoint, every car I have ran except for the last two years in my entire life had a spoiler on it. I feel more comfortable with it. I’m a fan.”

TRUEX JR. ON MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY: “I haven’t had a lot of success at Martinsville for some reason. I have always qualified well. I have had a couple of front row starts and started third in last year’s fall event. For me the biggest challenge is the track is so much different when the race starts on Sunday than it’s been all weekend. We tend to run really well on Friday and Saturday. When you get all the cars on the track on Sunday after the Truck race or whatever is run on it on Saturday, the rubber build up starts to get really bad during the race around the bottom groove. When it gets bad, I have trouble getting a hold of the track. Pat Tryson and I have talked a lot about Martinsville and I wish I knew what Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin were doing because I would do it. They are so good there. They know what it takes. Hopefully with Pat’s help, I can change my luck at Martinsville. It’s been a tough track for me.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

The driver of the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota will be competing in his 159th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.

He will be starting in his ninth race at the 0.526-mile track. His best start is second (Oct. 21, 2007) and best finish is 10th (Oct. 19, 2008).

During his career, Truex has earned one top–10 and four top-25 finishes at Martinsville. His average start is 17th and his average finish is 24th.

He has completed 3953 of 4011 laps of competition (98.6%) and has led one lap in competition.