DENVER (Aug. 27, 2014) – Martin Truex Jr. will be seeking his third straight top-five finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway, site of Sunday night’s Oral-B USA 500 Sprint Cup Series race.
Truex, who is in his first season driving the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet, notched a fourth-place finish at Atlanta in 2012 and a third-place result in 2013. He has also led 247 career laps at Atlanta, second only to Kansas where he has led 251.
Just looking at his Atlanta numbers it is easy to decipher why the 34-year-old veteran has a special feeling about the 1.54-mile high-speed oval.
“I love Atlanta, it’s the best racetrack on the circuit — it’s right there with Homestead,” said Truex. “The Atlanta track wears tires out. It’s that old surface and you can run all over the place there. It’s just a fun place to race. I am definitely looking forward to Atlanta — it’s been a good track for me in the past. Obviously that’s not a guarantee this time around, but it does give you a shot of confidence going to a place that you really like and feel comfortable racing at.”
Truex, whose No. 78 Chevy will showcase the World Vision paint scheme promoting clean water for the African country of Zambia, continues to feel the team has a shot at claiming a spot in the Chase.
“The formula is simple, we have to win one of the next two races,” noted Truex, a two-time Chase participant. “In order to win, we’re going to need speed at Atlanta and a good handling car at Richmond next week.”
With two-thirds of the season completed (24 of 36 races) Truex admits there have been disappointments but at the same time feels the team is primed for a breakthrough race.
“It’s been a roller coaster of a season thus far, but we still feel confident that we can turn things around,” explained Truex.
