NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FEDEX 400 BENEFITING AUTISM SPEAKS
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 29, 2015
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/VISSER PRECISION CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Dover International Speedway and discussed coming to his home track in Dover with momentum, the way his team is performing this season and many other topics. Full Transcript:
TALK ABOUT COMING TO DOVER THIS WEEK AND YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE WEEKEND:
“It’s great to be here, it always is. I really enjoy coming up to this area. Obviously I really enjoy running this race track. I’m looking forward to having a great weekend with our Furniture Row Chevy. It’s been a good few weeks for us; it’s been a good season for us. Hopefully we can continue that here this weekend.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW FIRMLY YOU BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A TRACK THAT YOU COULD MASTER AND COME OFF WITH THAT WIN?
“I really enjoy coming here. This is one of my favorite tracks. That is usually a good sign to start off with. Honestly, just between that and the way our cars have been running, the job the team has been doing, I feel like last year we were off quite a bit. We came here and we still ran in the top 10 both races, really had a good run here for us last year. I kind of was looking back at that and thinking about that thinking ‘okay imagine what we can do there now.’ We will just have to see. It’s a different year, times change, the tire is different this weekend than what we had here last year. It will be interesting to see how practice goes today and how qualifying goes today. As we get ready for tomorrow we will find a little bit more out. I have so much confidence in my team and the cars we have and the job that my team is doing. It’s just fun to come to the track with the confidence and with optimism about what we are going to do. I’m looking forward to the weekend it should be a good one.”
DESCRIBE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU AND COLE PEARN (CREW CHIEF) WHAT IS WORKING?
“I think honestly everything is working. I think we just we are just on the same page. We get along great. We have similar personalities. We kind of approach things the same way and think about things the same way. I guess he is like my Canadian brother and we just enjoy racing together. We are having a great time. We are really having fun. He works so hard. He is so into it and we are both all in. It’s just been fun to work with him. I’ve learned a lot from him already and I feel like I’ve helped him some as well. It’s just been a good relationship that has provided a lot of success for both of us.”
WHAT ABOUT A LAP HERE AT DOVER IS SO FUN? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT DOING A LAP HERE?
“My favorite part is just the way you land down in the corner. The coolest part about this place – what I really like about it is just that you have to drive the car really hard every lap. I don’t like tracks where you kind of have to let off early or be smooth on the gas to be fast. I like tracks where you have to drive the car hard. That is kind of always been my style. I don’t like to run 95 or 98 percent; I like to go all out. That kind of suits my style. That is part of the reason why I have always liked this place.”
HOW HAS IT BEEN THAT FINE BALANCE BETWEEN FRUSTRATION AND A LOT OF ENCOURAGEMENT AFTER EACH RACE?
“I guess it just depends on how you look at it. I think for us it is – when you look at it from the side, ‘well we probably should have won or had a really good chance to win the last two races’. It is a little bit frustrating because doing this as long as I have; you understand how hard it is to put yourself in those positions. You never know when your next opportunity is going to come. But at the same time, for us, to come from where we did last year to be in those positions to just to be running the way we are honestly. Charlotte is one of my worst race tracks. I have always felt that way. Last week, to lead the most laps and really again be the car to beat it was an amazing feeling for me. I can’t tell you the confidence it gave me after the race. There are just so many angles to look at things from. I think for us it’s important to not lose focus of what we have been able to accomplish so far, what this team is capable of and to just try to keep learning and getting better. So we can close the deal and win some races and hopefully at the end of the year be fighting for a championship.”
IS IT TOO SOON TO BE THINKING ABOUT A SECOND TEAM AT FURNITURE ROW? HAVE YOU GUYS HAD SOME DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT? MAYBE JUST PART-TIME AND MAYBE EVENTUALLY MOVE INTO A FULL-TIME ROLE?
“Yeah, I don’t think it’s too early to start thinking about it. I think that Barney (Visser, team owner) and Joe (Garone, general manager) have been thinking about it for a while. It’s just a matter of when is the time right. If the situation and everything works out the way they want it to, the way they want it to look I think it would be a good thing. I really like what we have right now. It’s working well and it’s hard to think about changing something. I think it would be a good thing for the team and certainly they have the capabilities of making it work I believe.”
ALL THE CHEVYS LOOK LIKE THEY’VE BEEN STRONG THIS SEASON, BUT YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE THAT’S BEEN ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH THE HENDRICK GROUP, MEANING THE HENDRICK-POWERED CARS. WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE FOR THE REST OF THE CHEVYS TO GET UP TO SPEED, AND WHY DO YOU THINK YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS BEEN ABLE TO BREAK THAT PARTY?
“Well, I’m not sure exactly why. We obviously get a lot of help from RCR. We share 100 percent of what we’re doing with them. I’m not sure. I think it’s just all the details, for us. Last year we struggled with some things. This year, I think RCR really helped us last year just kind of get a consistent platform towards the end of the year and we were able to do that. This year, we’ve just really been able to build on that and fine-tune on that. So, we haven’t done anything drastic to our cars this year, it’s just been a consistent platform that we’ve had to work off of. It’s something that our team understands and something that’s been consistent we’ve been able to fine-tune. I don’t know. I hope that stays the same. I hope we can continue to run with those guys and continue to push them to work harder. But this sport changes so fast. It’s important for us to keep working hard on it and try to find more things and keep pushing the right buttons.”
HOW EASY IS IT TO REPAIR A RELATIONSHIP WITH A FELLOW DRIVER THAT YOU’VE HAD AN ISSUE WITH OR THAT THEY’VE HAD AN ISSUE WITH? IS THAT SOMETHING THAT CAN BE REPAIRED OVER TIME OR DO YOU ALMOST AGREE TO DISAGREE AND YOU JUST GO YOUR WAY?
“I think that it’s definitely something you can repair. Depending on how big the situation was or how big of a deal the altercation was kind of dictates how long I guess it takes to repair it. But I think most guys around here get along pretty well. I can’t really think of two guys that absolutely can’t stand each other in the garage (laughter). I think everybody is pretty civil.”
IS THERE AN EXAMPLE IN YOUR CAREER WHERE THERE WAS A DUST-UP WITH SOMEBODY THAT YOU WERE UPSET WITH THAT EVENTUALLY GOT OVER AFTER A BIT OF TIME, BEYOND JUST THE NORMAL WEEK LATER?
“Yeah, for sure. There are a few instances. I think the most recent one this year was (when) Tony Stewart was mad at me in California. He thought I cut him off, so he ran into me. And just kind of flipped out after the race and called me everything in the book, and I was like all right, we’ll give you a few minutes to calm down. He texted me that night and felt bad about it and was sorry. So, you kind of just get caught up in the heat of the moment. Everybody races and drives with so much passion out here. You put so much into this and there’s so much that goes into thinking about your team and doing a good job for them. Honestly, this is our job and at the same time it’s kind of our passion and what we love to do. When things don’t go the way you want sometimes, you kind of fly off the handle; especially when somebody does something stupid. When you sit back and think about it you look at it from every angle and most of the guys are pretty levelheaded. We all get along pretty well, for the most part.”
YOU MENTIONED YOUR CONFIDENCE COMING IN HERE. BUT HAVE YOU REACHED THE POINT NOW WITH HOW WELL EVERYTHING IS GOING WITH THE NO. 78 TEAM THAT YOU FEEL LIKE ANY TIME, ANY WEEK YOU SHOW UP AT ANY RACE TRACK, YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN WIN?
“I really do, honestly, especially after last weekend. Again, Charlotte has not been a great track for me throughout my career. And to run the way we did last week was just awesome. So, yeah, I don’t think there is anywhere we can go and not be competitive. Martinsville is one of my worst tracks and I think we ran sixth there. It’s just a credit to the team and what they’re doing and yeah, I feel like we can go anywhere and have a shot at winning right now. Hopefully we’ll be able to keep that around until Chase time, when it matters.”
GIVEN THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE WON HERE BEFORE, IS THERE MORE OF A COMFORT ZONE COMING BACK TO A PLACE WHERE YOU’VE WON….ESPECIALLY A PLACE LIKE THIS WHERE A LOT OF GUYS EITHER LOVE IT OR HATE IT?
“Yeah, this is definitely a comfort zone for me. But again, there have been years when we’ve come here and not run well. It takes the whole package. It takes a great team effort. Right now we have momentum where our cars are working well. We really understand, I think, that what our cars are doing and what to expect for the weekend so far. But there’s a new tire here this weekend and we’ll have to figure that out. So, this sport is really difficult. It changes a lot. And, this is a place that can catch you off-guard. We’re super optimistic, but our eyes aren’t closed. And we’re working hard and are going to make sure we do the right things this weekend to be competitive.”
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