Ryan Truex - New Hampshire Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Ryan Truex hopes to add to his K&N Pro Series East points lead on Friday in the New England 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This race marks the halfway point in the series’ ten-race schedule. Truex, the 2009 series champion, is just eight points ahead of Darrell Wallace Jr. after taking over the lead at Martinsville Speedway on June. 6. Truex raced from the 32nd to second when rain shortened the race to just 175 laps. The 18-year-old Michael Waltrip Racing Development driver will also run six NASCAR Nationwide Series races in 2010 beginning at Gateway International Raceway on July 17.


QUOTES

ON NEW HAMPSHIRE: “This week we’re going to New Hampshire, and I’m really excited about that. We ran there last year and ran really well, we should have had a win or two. We raced there two times and I think we are going to run good. Hopefully we can be up front and try to defend our points lead.”

ON BEING CLOSE TO HOME: “It’s a pretty special track to me. It’s close to home, and my brother and my dad have both won their first races there. I almost got it last year, so hopefully we can go there this year and get the win. I’m really excited to be there. It’s just a fun track – I like everything about it. My brother has taught me a lot about it and my dad has too, so I’m excited to go back.”

ON RACE STRATEGY: “New Hampshire, unlike most tracks, we have to pit for tires and gas because it’s a longer race. The strategy is a little different there. You want to try to get your tires and gas early so you can get back your track position before everyone else pits. It’s hard to say what exactly you are going to do, you just have to play it by ear as the race goes on. You don’t want to go too early to get tires and end up shuffled back when everyone else gets new tires, but then you don’t want to pit too late and end up having bad track position. It’s pretty tough. We did pretty good at that last year and stayed up front. I’m confident that we can do it again this year.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST



• Truex along with Martin Truex Jr. and Sr. will hold a media availability at the New Hampshire Speedway media center at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.



• The 18-year-old driver is first in K&N Pro Series East standings, with 631 points. He leads second place, Darrell Wallace Jr., by eight points.



• The Mayetta, N.J. native is the first driver to earn a championship for Michael Waltrip Racing.



• Truex earned the first series championship title for Toyota in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East last year.



• Truex is the third member of his family to compete in the K&N Pro Series East. His father, Martin Truex Sr., and his brother Martin Truex Jr. also competed in the series.



• Truex will make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut on July 17 at Gateway International Raceway. He will also race at Michigan, Richmond, Kansas, Charlotte and Homestead.