TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Martin Truex Jr. — Notes & Quotes
Chicagoland Speedway – September 13, 2013
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
What was your reaction to NASCAR’s penalties earlier this week?
“Obviously, it’s been a tough week for all of us. I feel terrible for my team — all the NAPA guys. You know, NASCAR made a decision and it’s one of those things you can’t turn back time. We’re going to have to live with it and move on. Just glad to be back at the race track here at Chicago, and try to go out there and win the race.”
Do you think the sanctions issued to MWR were fair?
“All I did the last two weeks was drive my heart out. I broke my wrist at Bristol. I found out this week that I have two broken bones in there, not just one, which makes things even more difficult. The last two weeks, we raced our hearts out. We ran third at Atlanta. We had a 20th-place car at Richmond, we battled our tails off to finish seventh with it and really that’s as far as it goes for me. I didn’t — when the race was over, I wasn’t aware of what happened, what the cautions were for. I didn’t know the 55 (Brian Vickers) pitted at the end. It’s tough to swallow. It’s a difficult situation, like I said , for all of us. Just ready to move on. I went from feeling like I really climbed a mountain in that race at Richmond to going to be knocked out of the Chase and all that. Do I think it’s fair? You know, I don’t know. I don’t run the sport, so we’ll just have to deal with it.”
What have Michael Waltrip (MWR owner) or Ty Norris (MWR general manager) said to you regarding the penalties?
“Not a whole lot. They’re proud of the effort we gave as a team. They’re sorry about the things that happened. They’re sorry we’re not in the Chase. There was a lot of times this year where we had a chance to gain a few points and we didn’t do it. At the end of the day, that’s where we’re at right now, and we’ll just have to deal with it and move forward to try to win some races.”
Have Michael Waltrip (MWR owner) or Ty Norris (MWR general manager) apologized?
“Ty (Norris, MWR general manager) did, yeah. He straight up said, ‘I screwed up, it was the heat of the moment and made a bad decision.’ Things happen. Again, that stuff happened and just gave us a chance. It didn’t put us in. I wasn’t in until the last lap. I passed the 16 (Greg Biffle) on the very last lap and that’s what put us in. We were tied with (Ryan) Newman. It went to second-place finishes — that’s what got us in. It gave us a chance. Obviously, people thought it was unfair and we are where we are.”
How did you feel when you first heard about the penalties and that you weren’t going to be in this year’s Chase?
“To be honest with you, I can’t even tell you. This week has been kind of surreal — again, going from Saturday night feeling like we really accomplished something to getting it taken away from us. It’s been a tough week, but just have to thank my team and everybody for standing behind me. We’re going to come through this just fine. We just — I’m glad to be back at the race track, like I said. Glad to be back in the race car and try to get this wrist healed up and go win some races.”
Have you spoken with Clint Bowyer regarding what happened at Richmond?
“I haven’t talked to Clint (Bowyer) about it, to be honest. I haven’t even looked at any of it, haven’t watched anything this week — haven’t looked at anything. There’s nothing I can do to change it, so I’m looking forward from here on out.”
Are you more bothered by your penalty now that NASCAR is looking into some other teams and their actions in
Richmond?
“Not really. I don’t really pay much attention to what everyone else is doing. I’m sure NASCAR will do what they think is right and people will have to live with it.”
How would you feel if NASCAR adds Jeff Gordon to the Chase?
“Well, my team deserves to be in this Chase as much as any of those teams. If they’re going to start putting people back in, they ought to consider us, too.”
What will be your focus for the remainder of the season?
“Just winning races — we’ve got 10 more races. We have a great race team. We just need to go out and do what we’re capable of doing. I think a great thing for us would be to go out and get the most points in the last 10 races. That’s the kind of determination this team has and that’s what we’re going to do. Again, we don’t have a time machine, we can’t turn back the clocks and change things, we can’t do things over — we have to live with what we have. We’re not in the Chase. We’re 17th in points and we have to try to rebound and make the best of our season we can make of it.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing (continued)
How is your team?
“It really doesn’t change a whole lot for what we do as a race team. We come to the race track each and every weekend to do our best — to do the best job we can for our sponsors — and that’s what we’re going to continue to do. Obviously, there’s a whole lot less to lose then what it would have been if we were in the Chase. We can take some gambles and maybe make some things happen, we’ll just have to see how it goes.”
Was it important for you to respond to your fans via social media earlier this week?
“I think so. It’s hard when things like this happen. You want to get emotional — you want to say things that two or three days later you’ll probably regret. I just tried to stay off of this thing. I didn’t watch a whole lot of TV. I didn’t pay attention to what was going on, what people were saying because I know who I am. I don’t need to read what people think about me or what people say about me. Just tried to say what I thought was right and try to move on. Again, it’s been a tough week, but there’s a whole lot worse things going on in the world right now. There’s a whole lot of things that could go worse. I’ve been blessed to be a driver in NASCAR for the last 10 years or so. This is the sport I love. I get to do what I love every week and I’m not going take that for granted no matter what happens.”
Where do you draw the line regarding team orders?
“I don’t even know how to answer that. This is a team sport. I don’t own the race car. At the same time, everybody on every team — driver, crew chief, owner — it doesn’t matter who it is, all they want every weekend is to do the best they can do. Nobody is going to just pull over for the sake of a teammate or something stupid that hurts their reputation or hurts their finish. That’s not what we’re here for.”
Have you heard from any other drivers this week?
“I talked to (Ryan) Newman quite a bit. I heard from Mark — Mark Martin and that’s about it. I don’t expect to hear from most of those guys.”
