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.