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.