Toyota Racing – Martin Truex Jr.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
New Hampshire Motor Speedway – July 14, 2017
Furniture Row Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to the media at New Hampshire Motor Speedway:
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 WIX Filters Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What would it mean for you to win here in New Hampshire where you family has history?
“Oh, it would be awesome. It’s been on my list for a long time. Won here in K&N and also in XFINITY, so been after that Cup win for quite a few years. Been close a few times. I think last year we led the most laps in both races or close to it, but had really good cars here last year, so definitely excited about coming here to this weekend. I’ve been thinking about it all week – what it would feel like. Looking to get on a race track and get after it.”
What are you looking for when you get to Indianapolis next week?
“I don’t know that it’s any different than any other race. We got there try to do the best job we can do. You know, we know there’s stage points up for grabs. I think strategy wise it’s going to be different. It’s going to be more like a Pocono or a road course – you’ll be able to pit if you’re close enough to the leader without losing a lap, so that – anytime that can happen, it really throws a curve ball at the teams. Do you want to try to win Stage 2 or do you want to try and win the race? There’s a – potentially, it could come down to pit strategies or something like that, so we’ll just have to see, but our guys – Cole (Pearn, crew chief), my guys – they’ve done an awesome job of strategy this year and making sure we do all the right things. We’ll just go there and race and definitely looking forward to it.”
How important is it to Furniture Row Racing to have two Camrys?
“Well, I’ll leave that up to Barney (Visser, team owner) and Joe (Garone, team president) and everybody that runs the show. I mean, our team has been incredible – it’s been awesome to be a part of it. It was exciting going to two cars and I know it was something that Barney has thought about and talked about for a long time and I know his plans originally were not for this team to be a one year deal. We’ll just have to see how it all pans out, but I’ve enjoyed working with Erik (Jones). He’s been a good teammate. He’s a great kid. Love talking to him and hearing his point of view and things, so it would have been nice to have him for a couple years. That program I feel like just keeps getting stronger each and every week and they had a good run last weekend and it’s a shame to see that happen that quickly, but we’ll just have to see how it all pans out and hopefully we’ll be two cars, but I guess you never know.”
How did you get this momentum going in 2017?
“Well, I think it’s just been working on it for a couple of years really. It’s just a continuation of – you know, in 2015 we kind of started to figure things out as a group and we just continued to keep building on that success and the momentum and confidence is high and just kind of using that to our advantage right now, so we’ve got great race cars, we’ve got a great team and just everything is clicking. Having fun and enjoying ourselves obviously and last weekend was a big win and, you know, hopefully we can get a few more before the playoffs start. But I think our main focus now is just making sure we’re ready for those last 10 and try to do the best job that we can do to go after our first championship.”
Is the point bonus that accompanies being the regular season points leader a goal of yours?
“I wouldn’t say we’re thinking about scenarios, but we definitely want that 15 points, you know? And we’re going to try everything that we can do to get it. You know, this week we were within one point until Wednesday and now we’ve got a lead, so we’ll just try to hold it. You just never know how things can go. I mean, you can get on a good run and you can get on a bad one. We had Sonoma and Daytona – we finished 37th and 36th I think two weeks in a row and lost a ton of points there, so you just never know. I think that performance-wise and speed-wise, we have what it takes to get the job done, but still it’s racing and you never know what can happen. We’re just going to try to do the best job we can do and let it fall where it does, but it sure would be nice to have those 15 points.”
Have you ever had a 15-second lead in a race where you just built it by running away?
“I don’t know if I’ve had – I’m pretty sure I’ve had a 15-second lead before. I just – typically the green doesn’t stay out for that long at that type of race track. I mean, it was 75 or 78 laps or something like that I guess it was, so we were able to get the lead early and, you know, most of that lead we got was when we took the lead we had four tires and I think second through fifth had two tires. We were really able to get out front on them there and hold our lead and then after that we just kind of maintained, so it’s not like we just were pulling away crazy amounts each and every lap, but our car definitely was extremely fast last weekend. I felt good going into the race that we had what we needed to contend for the win and just for some reason when it got dark it just – it was completely perfect. I mean, it got better and better as the race went on and I think some other guys didn’t get quite as good at night time, so all those things played into our favor and we were able to take care of it and get the job done.”
Will you use this weekend for playoff prep?
“Definitely. Anytime you come here – new rules package this year from what we ran here last year – just trying to learn as much as you can for next time around. And this – the VHT they put down this weekend’s going to change things a lot. I think that’s probably the biggest question mark right now. We’ll just go through this weekend and try to do the best job we can do, try to go to victory lane and then figure out whether we’re going to run on VHT in the playoffs or not. It’s going to be a huge deal. It’s going to be a big time change for this race track – where we’re going to run on it, where do you need to run on it, what are you going to have to do to your car to make it work in those different lanes and on that grip, that spray. We’ll just have to wait and see next time around, but well definitely try to gather as much information as possible here and at the same time try to have a good weekend and come away with some points.”
Would anything change for the No. 78 Camry team if your team goes back to a single-car operation?
“I wouldn’t think so. I mean, we’ve got a really, really tight group of guys that have done a good job working together over the last few year and have a lot of trust and confidence in each other and I think one of the strongest parts of our team is just everybody doing their own jobs and understanding what they are and doing them really well, so I don’t see anything changing. I’m sure there’ll be more guys at the shop, they’ll do something different there if they go to one car, but we’ll just have to wait and see honestly. It’s – I don’t think that decision has been made yet.”
What are your strengths and weakness at New Hampshire?
“I think we’ve had a lot of different things happen over the years here at New Hampshire. It’s really been a good race track for me on average throughout my career as far as how we run and seems like it’s one of those tracks that it’s been tough to always get the finishes. Last year, we had great cars in both races and the first race we had an issue with a parts failure and the second race – I don’t even remember where we finished, I think it was sixth or seventh after leading a lot of the day – so it’s just been tough to put it all together to get the finishes, but we’ve ran well and definitely looking forward to taking advantage of that this weekend.”
What are your thoughts on the VHT location on track?
“Well, I’ve got a map of where they said they were going to put it. We’ll see when we get out there if that’s actually where it’s at or not. I’m not on the Drivers’ Council, so I’m privy to that information, but did see where they were supposed to put it. We’ll just have to see how it plays out. You know, honestly, we don’t know right now. We haven’t been out there. Looking forward to feeling it out and seeing what we can make of it and the modifieds are running the third groove, which they always do here, so we’ll just have to see when we get out there. It’s so different.”
How will the modified rubber affect the track with the VHT?
“I’m not sure, honestly. It’s really a guess. You know, this track is synonymous with having a lot of divisions running. It’s always been that way. You never want to go out on somebody else’ rubber. The K&N cars these days really don’t make it change a whole lot because they’re Goodyears and I think it’s just a similar blend that they have in the compound, so that typically hasn’t been an issues. Years ago, I can remember when we – K&N ran a different tire, a different tire brand, and you absolutely did not want to go on the race track for 15 or 20 minutes after the raced or after they practiced, so it’s changed over the years and the VHT is just another thing we’ll have to figure out, so we’ll see how it goes, but I imagine it will be fine.”
