Toyota Racing
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Driver’s Championship Stats & Toyota Quotes
November 19, 2017
Martin Truex Jr. Fast Facts and Toyota Executive Quotes
· Camry driver Martin Truex Jr. won the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) championship with a victory in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, claiming his first-career Cup Series title and the second-ever MENCS driver’s championship by a Toyota driver.
· Truex’s performance also helped secure the 2017 MENCS manufacturer’s championship for Toyota, the second-straight Cup manufacturer’s title for the OEM (2016-17). Toyota also won the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series manufacturer’s and driver’s titles.
· Truex won a series-high eight races and claimed 19 top-five results and 26 top-10 finishes over 36 races to claim the 2017 driver’s championship and become the second Toyota driver to win a Cup championship. Kyle Busch was the first Camry driver to win a MENCS title in 2015.
· Truex, who earned a series-best 19 stage wins in the first season of the new format, also won the 2017 MENCS Regular Season Championship at the conclusion of the first 26 races of the season.
· Truex earned his first-career MENCS title behind the wheel of the new 2018 Toyota Camry that debuted for the 2017 season before its new, radically-redesigned production counterpart first hit showrooms this Fall. In its first season of competition, the 2018 Camry won 16-total Cup races and led 5,757 laps, the most-ever for the Camry in a single NASCAR Cup season.
· Truex has the fourth-most wins in a Camry with 13-total victories over six seasons in a Toyota.
· Truex first piloted a Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing from 2010 to 2013 with one victory, and began driving a Camry again when Furniture Row Racing moved to Toyota in 2016.
TOYOTA QUOTES
David Wilson, president of TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development), on the significance of Truex’s title:
“I am so incredibly happy for Martin – this championship is personal for us. Toyota, TRD and Martin’s history goes back to the days of Michael Waltrip Racing, so just having a second chance to race with him when he moved to Furniture Row Racing was special all by itself. Martin Truex Jr. and Cole Pearn (crew chief) set this garage on its ear the past two years with their championship caliber performance – a combination of speed, strategy and consistency that was unmatched. This championship is also a testament to the very special partnership between Furniture Row Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing and TRD. I’m proud they won the championship for Toyota with TRD under the hood. I’m proud to be on their team.”
Keith Dahl, motorsports general manager for Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), on Truex winning the championship:
“This championship confirms what we already knew – that Martin (Truex Jr.) is a talented driver and champion, a fitting title to cap what has been an emotional rollercoaster of a season. We’re fortunate that Martin and Cole (Pearn, crew chief) are a part of the Toyota family and proud they brought home a NASCAR Cup Series championship in the new 2018 Toyota Camry’s debut season is a fairy tale story for America’s best-selling car. I just want to say congratulations to Martin, Cole, Barney (Visser, team owner) and the entire Furniture Row Racing organization for winning their first championship.”
