Martin Truex Jr. Texas 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.