MARTIN TRUEX JR.
No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS TOYOTA
CORNELIUS, N.C. – No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. enjoyed the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series off week by getting a little rest and relaxation in the Bahamas that included swimming with sharks.
Now with his battery charged and seven races left to earn his second-straight Chase for the Sprint Cup appearance, Truex turns his attention to one of the sport’s most prestigious and challenging races of the season —The Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
TRUEX ON RACING AT INDIANAPOLIS: “The Brickyard is one of those races that everyone, including myself and my crew chief, want to win. Just going to Indy is cool. It has so much history around it. The prestige of winning there is incredible. It sure would be nice to kiss the bricks. I think we have a chance. We have had some really good runs there over the years including last year in the NAPA Toyota. I really like the place. It’s definitely challenging because of the size of it. People talk about it having four distinct corners and it’s definitely the case. It’s a tricky track. Sometimes the sun is out in turns 1 and 2 but not turns 3 and 4. The way the sun hits it throughout the day creates challenges because it is very temperature sensitive. It is definitely a challenging place throughout the day and over the course of a weekend. You definitely need horsepower, aero and good handling. You need it all to be fast there.”
ON SWIMMING WITH SHARKS: “It was something that I had never done before and it certainly wasn’t scary or even crazy like you would expect it to be. They were only three to four feet long and we were given instructions as to what to do. By all means, we’re not talking about great whites. They were nurse sharks so they were not aggressive. They just wanted you to pet them. We also went to a grotto where a James Bond movie was shot. It looked like an island and when you pulled up, there was a tiny hole you could barely see. But you could swim into it and come out in a big cave. We had a good time and my batteries got charged up in time for one of the biggest weeks in our sport.”
NOTES:
HOMETOWN BOY: Crew Chief Chad Johnston grew up in Cayuga, Ind. racing midgets on the state’s short tracks. “If I had to pick one race to win, Indy is the race that means the most to me. I remember walking out through the sea of people to pit road on a Sunday in 2006. I had always been on the other side of the fence. I saw where I used to sit in the stands every year for both the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 races. To now be a part of the show is unbelievable.”
TRUEX TO HELP RYAN SEACREST: On Monday at 10 a.m., the NAPA driver joins American Idol host Ryan Seacrest for the grand opening of Seacrest Studios at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, N.C. The Martin Truex Jr. Foundation is a major sponsor of the studio, only the fifth of its kind in the U.S.
GET BACK AND GIVE BACK: NAPA will donate $1 to Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund for every qualifying rebate on batteries, starters and alternators redeemed by customers in July. Consumers can also select to donate (in $5 increments) part or all of their earned mail-in rebate that range from $5 to $25. NAPA also is encouraging the public to donate $10 – no purchase is needed – to Intrepid by texting the word NAPA to 27722.
