Toyota Daytona 500 Driver Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Daytona Media Day – February 22, 2017
Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to the media at NASCAR Daytona Media Day:
Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing
What was your reaction when you heard Carl Edwards was leaving NASCAR?
“I was completely shocked, yeah. I did not see it coming at all, and I spent quite a bit of time around him last year doing Toyota stuff and everything. I never saw it coming.”
It’s like the big mystery of what’s the real reason.
“Well, I think he was honest. I feel like he was, about his reasons. Aside from that, I don’t know anything more about it.”
Has racing become where only certain teams can win on any given week?
“Yeah, I mean, I guess we do. I do think it’s probably ‑‑ it’s probable that the champion is going to come from one of the bigger teams in this day and age, just from a resources standpoint. Really it all starts with how much money can you spend to get the right people. But you still have to have good people that get along. Look at our group, for instance. We came ‑‑ two years ago we got together when we were in Denver and we had the RCR alliance. If you look at how we did compared to how they did, it was pretty amazing to see what a small team could do.
You still have that getting the right kind of people together. You can still be a smaller team and get it done. But I think the odds are on the bigger teams for sure.”
Before your move over to Toyota, you were kind of like the smaller team against the Goliaths. How tough was that?
“I would say it was tough for sure, but it’s ‑‑ you know, I don’t know how to really gauge it or put a level on it. Like for me, it wasn’t that difficult. I did the same thing I’ve always done, worked with my team as hard as I could to try to be the best we could be, get our cars working fast, running fast and handling good and all those things. You know, I think from the standpoint of maybe the guys organized the team, our owner, general manager, guys who actually have to make things happen and get parts and pieces and make sure you were getting the stuff ‑‑ the crew chiefs and engineers are getting the stuff they need, I’m sure it’s a lot more difficult because you don’t have so many resources to pull from.
We’ve just got an amazing group of guys that have been able to take anything that they can and make stuff happen, whether it was ‑‑ when we did the RCR thing or now with the Toyota. It’s just amazing to see what they do. Our guys are incredible.”
What is your impression of the history Jimmie Johnson is making?
“I guess quite a bit. I mean, I think it’s just unbelievable what they’ve been able to do, obviously, and you ‑‑ it’s funny because you spend time with Jimmie, you talk to him, you see him away from the racetrack, whatever, you wouldn’t know he ever won a race. He’s just such a good guy. You want to hate him as much as he wins and all the championships he has and all that, but he’s just such a likable guy, and I think he’s great for the sport, and I know I enjoy hanging around with him.”
Can you reflect on last year and put it in perspective?
“Yeah, it was a good season, had great potential, it just didn’t work out the way we needed it to, obviously, and we did a lot of great things, won some races, led a lot of laps, just didn’t win them at the right time, I guess, so hopefully this year we’ll be able to be a little more consistent throughout the latter part of the season and do that. But I think for us, really our second year together as a group last year, it’s amazing to see what we’ve done in just two years together, our whole kind of core group of guys. I still think there’s room to improve. Obviously there’s room to get better, and looking forward to that challenge this year. We’ve got a lot of exciting things happening, and I think the rules package, even less downforce again this year is going to benefit us. We ran really well with it at Darlington, obviously, and at Kentucky when we ran it last year, and Michigan, so I really like the lower downforce. I think that’s going to be good. I think the bonus points that we can collect through the season through the stages of the races and taking all that stuff in throughout the playoffs should benefit us if we can back up what we did last year on the racetrack.”
Are you in favor of the new points system, do you like it?
“I am. I think it’s great. I’m really optimistic about what it holds for us. Again, it’s going to reward you for being consistently good and performing at a high level each and every week, and I think we did that last year, and so I’m looking forward to that, hopefully taking advantage of it. At the same time, I think we’re working on being a little bit more consistent than we were last year. Seemed like we were either really fast and leading laps and having a shot to win or we were having issues and finishing in the 20s or 30s. So try to be a little more consistent, continue that speed from last year, and just hopefully continue to grow as a team and challenge for our first championship.”
What were you thinking when you could do the stuff much easier and quicker than he could?
“Yeah, it was interesting just to see that, and the perspective it kind of gave me on just how easy it was for me, and just seeing how difficult it was for him. I’ve never been in that position, so it was kind of eye‑opening to me just to see what that’s like to have issues. You know, at first I thought it was kind of funny, and I was like, what the heck is wrong with you. But then it hit me, it was like, this is serious. It’s crazy how ‑‑ there’s nothing you can do about it. You can’t control it. It’s just one of those things that happens. So I’m obviously glad he’s gotten through it, and he’s healthy and feeling good. It was just definitely an eye‑opener and gave me a bit of perspective on what he was going through.”
Did you ever get any sense that Dale Earnhardt Jr. felt anxiety about trying to make this decision to come back?
“Yeah, we never really talked about it. I think when it was first all going on, there was a lot of questions going around. I straight up texted him just to see how he was doing. I was like, hey, what’s going on, how you feeling, blah blah blah. I didn’t ask him what he was thinking. I just said, hey, make sure if you come back, you do it for you. Just make the decision for yourself, don’t think about anybody else, be selfish in this thing. I think he did. I know he’s got a lot on his shoulders, a lot of people put a lot of pressure on him, obviously. I think in a lot of ways he sometimes feels like he needs to be here for other people. But hopefully he made the decision based on what’s best for him. I think he did. I know he’s excited about racing still. He obviously still loves it and wants to do it and hopefully things will all work out for him.”
What do you think of your Flyers this year?
“Honestly I haven’t paid a whole lot of attention to it, but I think last I checked they weren’t doing so great, but they’ve got a big game coming up, the outdoor game. That should be fun to watch, and hopefully I’ll get to catch that one on TV.”
With a green track and no practice, with that possibility, what would you expect from those races?
“You know, I wouldn’t expect it to be much different than it would be had we had practice. Honestly, we raced the other day in the Clash. I think that was better practice than any actual practice session we could have just because it was pretty warm, track was slicker than normal because we usually race that race at night. The Duels are supposed to be at night. I think we learned more the other day than we possibly could in the Duels anyway. So I don’t think it’s a big deal either way. We’ll get some practice before the 500 eventually, and it’ll be fine.”
How is your team working through the template issues you experienced last week?
“Yeah, it’s been a big issue. Cole (Pearn, crew chief) and a bunch of our guys flew home as soon as qualifying was over and have been there working on stuff for Atlanta and trying to figure out ‑‑ just trying to figure out how things got screwed up and where they went wrong. They’ve got a lot of work ahead of them, obviously, and we’ve got a good bunch of guys there at the shop, fabricators and such, so we’ll get it straightened out. It’s just definitely a setback that you don’t want this early in the season, especially for us. We were building all new cars because we changed the body style this year, 2018 Camry. Obviously going to two cars, that’s a little bit different. So there’s definitely a lot of midnight oil being burnt in Denver.”
Do you have any concerns?
“Yeah, I mean, it is what it is. We tell you what’s happening, and if you believe it, you do, and if you don’t, you don’t. At the end of the day, we have to go through inspection and pass just like everybody else. The rules are the same for everyone, and obviously we’ve had our issues in the past. But I think it’s funny when you talk to Cole, he gets so angry about it because he’s like, everybody thinks that there’s this master plan, and we’re like these guys that try to get everything past NASCAR. Well, it’s really just not the case. It is what it is, but hopefully they’ll get it fixed, like I said, and we won’t have any issues going forward.”
Why has it worked out so good with your team’s pairing of yourself and Cole Pearn, from your perspective?
“There’s a lot of reasons, I think. He’s really good. He’s really smart. But more importantly, I think he’s really, really good at putting the right people in the right places. That’s something I noticed when he first started. Our engineers and him have past history. They really get along well. They’re complete opposites, but they know how to work together, and they kind of have ‑‑ they kind of hold each other up. If one of them has an area that they’re not expert in, the other guy is. So they really complement each other well, and they complement me well personality‑wise, background‑wise. We’re similar ages, we came up similar ways. All three of us, really, my lead engineer and Cole, and I think we just ‑‑ honestly we really approach racing the same way and feel the same way about a lot of things, and just really that’s what it is. Just kind of chemistry and being good at your job and taking advantage of that. I can’t really say it’s one thing. It’s across the board. Everything is just ‑‑ it’s the best situation I’ve ever been in, and it’s exciting for me to come to the track every weekend knowing I’m going to have a shot to win.”
Did you have some doubts at first with them being based in Denver that somehow it might not work out quite as ‑‑ couldn’t get quite as good as the people that were in North Carolina?
“Not really, no. Honestly, when it all came together, it was really the only option I had with the way things played out, and it turns out that it was a blessing in disguise the way everything went. Our first year together was awful, and it was ‑‑ then I started to have some questions about, okay, where do we go from here, how are we going to fix this when we’re all the way out here. But once Cole came in and we fixed the race cars, it was like, he flipped a switch and here we go. I’ve never really thought about that, honestly, basically just because I had no opportunity to. It was this is where you’re going, figure out how to make it work, and we’ve been able to do that.”
How often do you think about last year’s Daytona 500?
“I’ve been thinking about it for the last two weeks because I’ve been talking about it every day. Honestly, other than that, not really much. When I see the highlight, obviously ‑‑”
When you see the highlight, do you kind of cringe?
“I do. I’m like, God, so close, why didn’t you do this. As bad as it hurt, at the same time, it was kind of cool to be a part of that finish, to be ‑‑ that’s really the first time I’ve had an opportunity to win this race, so I guess if you have to lose one before you can win one, that was my losing one, and hopefully next time around I’ll be able to win it. But really it’s so difficult so put yourself in position to win this race. That’s really the race in itself to just try to get in position to have a shot. We’re restrictor plate racing, and this stuff is really difficult to get in position. I don’t know, hopefully we can do that again and be on the other side of it this time.”
How long did it take you to get over it last year?
“Not long. A day or two I was fine and ready to go to Atlanta. You have to have a short memory in racing, and last year we were able to go to Atlanta and run strong, so hopefully we’ll have a good weekend here and see what happens.”
How do you think the system is going to play out, money and segments, on road courses, on short courses ‑‑
“It’s going to be interesting to see how it affects strategy and things. I think depending on where you’re running some guys will take some chances try to grab a few points here and there. I think ultimately the end of the race is still obviously where your goal is to finish, up front or win. But it’s going to be a nice little bonus. I think last year for us, I don’t know how many segments or stages we would have won, but it would have been a lot, as many laps as we led. For us I think it’s exciting to be able to have an opportunity to win more bonus points that we can take throughout the playoffs. I think last year it would have been very beneficial for us especially, and I just think it’s exciting to have something to race for throughout each and every race throughout the season, get rewarded for consistently running up front, leading laps and finishing well. I think that’s a good thing for all of us.”
Having a second member at the Furniture Row Racing team, talk about what he brings to the table.
“Yeah, sure. I’m looking forward to it. I think it’ll be good. Erik is a talented driver, obviously. He’s been really fast in everything he’s been in. That’s a good thing. You know, I think bringing in some new people, I think they’ve really assembled a really good team over there, and really the more people, strong, smart people you have in an organization, the stronger you can hopefully be. We’ll see how it all works out, but I’m excited about working with Erik. This will be the first time in my career I’ve been the senior driver on a team. I’ve always been one of the younger guys, so being on the other side of that for once, and trying to give back a little bit of what some of those veterans gave me years ago will be exciting, will be fun, and be something new for me, so it should be cool.”
What do you think of the new schedule format? Is that something that’s sustainable?
“I’m not sure. Yeah, but we practice Saturday, so I think it’s fine. I think it’ll be good, actually. We’ll get to go in on Friday instead of on Thursday. Another day at home for the teams. I think it’ll be good. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all works out. But I think we spend too much time at most of the racetracks we go to now anyways. We have three days, we have three practices, a qualifying, sometimes two practices, qualifying and a race. It shouldn’t take three days to do that. I think it’s better for everyone, honestly, less hotels, a lot less expense. For race fans, I’m not sure, I would presume some will love it, some will hate it. Just have to see how all that balances out.”
On that trip with Jr. last year when he couldn’t do those tests, did you get the sense from him, like a fear that maybe he thought he wasn’t going be able to come back from this thing?
“I never did, no. I don’t want to speak for him, but I don’t think he ever did based on ‑‑ at least that’s how I perceived it. That’s how he came across. So either he was really good at that or that’s what he really believed, I don’t know, you’d have to ask him that. But I always got the sense that he was always sure he was going to be okay, and I think based on his doctors and what they were telling him that, hey, you’ll get through this, but we don’t know how long it’s going to take. Again, I don’t like ‑‑ I don’t really like to try to speak for him or give my opinion on the whole matter, but I think he was just mad it was taking longer than he expected, more than anything. He was getting frustrated with it. But he definitely worked hard, and doing those exercises and things was like, I don’t know if I would have done that every day, every day to try to get better.”
Have you ever had a concussion that you know of?
“I never have, no. Knock on wood. Solid head, yes.”
What was your mindset in the final laps of last year’s Daytona 500?
“Well, I felt like I was in really good position. I was really just watching my mirror and trying to ‑‑ I was wanting to stay in line as long as possible because I knew they were going to start coming at some point two, three wide. So it depends on how far back in the pack they started making moves, and once they got double file, he was really only a row or two behind me. I knew our best chance was to stay in line until real late, like last lap late, so that’s kind of what my game plan was. Once Denny got that big run, obviously everything changed and it was like, all right, what can I do to ‑‑ and really I was in the best position because I didn’t have to do anything. I just stayed where I was and almost had a shot at it. It’s so ‑‑ this racing is so, all your moves are keyed off of what everyone else is doing around you. So it’s difficult to kind of make those split‑second decisions and hope they work out because if one guy makes one decision that you thought was going to be the opposite, then you’re done, you’re out to lunch. So it’s hard.”
Hindsight being 20/20, is there anything you wish you would have done differently?
“I could have tapped the brake off of 4 and not got past him so early, and I’d have beat him. You’re crazy, you think you’re going for the finish line, tap the brake, dummy; you’re trying to race to the finish line; why would you ever want to touch the brakes. But either that or just run him off the racetrack. I could have done that.”
Can you describe the turns on the track?
“ On the racetrack. I mean, really ‑‑ you could really say there’s six turns because you have an entry, a middle and an exit of each corner. So the way we separate the corners is how we do it.”
So at Martinsville, you go down the straightaway, you turn once and you come out a different side?
“Yeah, but you go in, you slow down and turn, you get to the middle of the corner, you kind of reset, and then you gas up and go back the other way, so it really is almost like two turns, but then we go to Pocono and it’s a triangle and it’s three turns. So to your point, that’s how they did it.”
That should be six turns?
“It should be. And then when we go to the road course, some call it nine turns, some call it 11 turns. It’s all over the map. So really on the ovals is the only thing that we call four turns, and it’s probably more tradition than anything else. That’s how we grew up.”
How much of an advantage is it when you’re on a team with resources and the manufacturer alliances, all that stuff?
“It’s definitely a benefit. I think just having more information to go off of, more ideas, more information, past success, past history that’s good is always a good thing to pull off of, and for us to be aligned with a team like JGR, obviously their track record speaks for itself. They’ve got a lot of experience at winning championships and winning races, so there’s a lot to pull from there as opposed to when we were doing it ourselves and leaning on RCR somewhat. They hadn’t won a race in a long time. We were outrunning them consistently. It was more when you were getting outrun and you had questions about what direction to go on certain things, it was ‑‑ sometimes it was difficult to map all that out, to plan it all out. When you’re with a team that’s been doing it so long and winning as consistently as a team like Gibbs has, they just seem to have more intuition about when they are behind, what is it, w
