MWR NEWS

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

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.

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Toyota Camry Texas Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — In Trevor Bayne’s 21-race NASCAR Nationwide Series career he has excelled on the fast 1.5-mile tracks. He’s started five races on these types of tracks and grabbed a top-10, four top-15s with an average qualifying spot of 10th. The Knoxville, Tenn., native earned his career-best finish of sixth at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas track earlier this season. Additionally, Bayne’s only finish outside the top 15 came in the September race at Atlanta Motor Speedway where he finished 16th. The 19-year-old Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver hopes to continue that success at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway this weekend and pad those already impressive statistics.

QUOTES

BAYNE ON TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY: “I really like Texas a lot. I think Texas and Atlanta are two of my favorite tracks. It’s a really fast track. Last year we were really free on entry and I think if we can fix that we can be competitive. We are going to go to Texas with a setup similar to what we had at Las Vegas. We had a lot of success at Vegas so I think we will be able to unload pretty good this weekend. I think I learned a lot a Vegas that will translate to a good run at Texas. If we can stay out of trouble, we have a really good chance of finishing in the top 10 this weekend.”

BAYNE ON 1.5-MILE SUCCESS: “I attribute a lot of my success to my crew chief Jerry Baxter. He has been to these types of tracks a ton and really knows how to set up the cars. I am also competitive on these tracks because it reminds me of short track racing that I am used to but just a little faster. At Texas, Vegas, Charlotte and Atlanta you can drive your car from the white line to the wall. This gives you the ability to find the fast line for your race car. I just hope we can continue our success on these types tracks and move up a little in the point standings.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

Bayne is the youngest fulltime racer in the Nationwide Series. He was born Feb. 19, 1991.

Bayne is tenth in points among the fulltime Nationwide Series drivers.

The 19-year-old driver owns 21 NNS starts. He has one pole (Indianapolis), three top-10s (Indianapolis, Richmond and Las Vegas), 10 top-15s and has led 34 laps of competition.

In November’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, Bayne qualified the No. 99 Toyota in the 11th position. He ran in the top 15 for the majority of the race. The young driver grabbed a solid 13th-place finish.

This weekend, Bayne’s No. 99 Toyota will run a plain hood with Diamond-Waltrip logos on the quarter panels in hopes to show potential sponsors inventory is available.

Last weekend at Phoenix International Speedway, Bayne and the No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip team thought they had a car that could compete for a top-five finish after practice. However, once the race started the handling on the No. 99 machine went away. Crew chief Jerry Baxter tried several adjustments and nothing seemed to work. To add insult to injury, the 19-year-old driver was involved in an incident on lap 136 that caused major damage to the No. 99 and he was forced behind the wall for major repairs. Bayne eventually crossed the finish line 32nd.

Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Camrys out of the MWR race shop in Cornelius, N.C.