[media-credit name=”Michael Waltrip Racing” align=”alignright” width=”180″]
[/media-credit]6/6/2012
No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver Mark Martin – posted the fastest lap of the day (175.380 mph/51.317 seconds)
No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. – eighth quickest (174.091 mph/51.697 seconds)
No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota driver Clint Bowyer – 19th quickest (173.404 mph/51.902 seconds)
MARTIN QUOTE: What are your thoughts on the repave at Pocono? “The track is doing extremely well for the first day that we are on the repave. I give them high marks. It is not as tricky as most newly paved racetracks especially with this kind of speed. I am really pleased and I am looking forward to another day of playing around and learning more. The track is doing well and of course, the Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota is doing well too.”
How is the racing groove right now? “It is extremely narrow. The good thing is when you get out of it, it isn’t like ice. That’s good. For example if you got out of the groove at Phoenix, it was like driving on ice. It’s not the case here. It bodes well for the groove gaining width as we start putting more cars out and racing more on it.”
TRUEX QUOTE: What do you think of the new Pocono Raceway? “I am pleasantly surprised about how good the track is and the tire combination. I expected it to be slicker. I expected it to change quite a bit more than it has. It was a little bit slick when we got started, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It has been a good day and we’ve learned a lot so far. I think it has gone well. The only thing I am worried about is how narrow the groove is. It is really narrow. We are going to have to get around that. Other than that, the track is great.”
BOWYER QUOTE: How did your day go at the test? “I think our day went well. The grip level is amazing. The level is higher because we are going faster, but it doesn’t feel a whole lot faster. The feel wise — where it was rough and it was bouncing the car around — you got the sensation of speed. It is still a real narrow racetrack. Hopefully by Sunday, it will widen out for us. We certainly have plenty of time to make that happen.”
Tomorrow the NASCAR Sprint Cup teams will participate in a final day of testing at the 2.5-mile tri-oval. It will comprise of two sessions from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
