Toyota Racing – Martin Truex Jr.
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
RIDGEWAY, Virginia (June 9, 2020) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to media via video conference prior to the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 this Wednesday:
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 SiriusXM Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How important is it for NASCAR to be as inclusive as it can be especially at a time like this?
“I think it’s important obviously. With what’s going on in our country today, I think it’s the right thing to do. Just to reiterate the message that everyone is welcome at NASCAR races and we want everybody to be included and not feel out of place in any way if they decide to come. Listening and learning about what people think is a part of the process and this is kind of the next step in that.”
What is your take on the rhythm that you try to establish early in races and if it’s different now that you don’t have practice or qualifying prior to the races?
“Yeah, I think for me at least my personal feeling is I’ve been doing this long enough that I feel like — for the most part — the veterans, even if we did have practice — and I feel like we all get in the car and right off the bat are pretty dialed in on what we’re doing. And, it doesn’t take a whole lot of practice from the driving side. It’s more getting the opportunity to feel what you have and go to work on it. That’s something that we don’t have now, but I feel that I can get in and fire off and go just as hard as I need to. It’s different from the perspective that you really don’t know what you have, and you have to kind of fly by the seat of your pants feel and just react and make adjustments on the fly. There is no, ‘Well, I’m going to go in the garage and make a few adjustments.’ You kind of just have to deal with what you have and wait for a pit stop to work on it. So, it’s been a little bit different from there. I definitely feel like I’m confident in being able to fire it off into turn 1 as hard as I need to each week.”
What is the thought process running under the lights at Martinsville for the first time?
“I think we’ve had a bit of experience with it just finishing a few races with the lights on and it getting dark. So, we have some past experience with that, and I think you go back and look at your notes on that and what you feel like the track did and how it changed to try to prepare that way. Yeah, it’s definitely going to be different, but I think it’s exciting to have our first night race there. Doing it mid-week, it should be fun so hopefully it goes over well. We’re all looking forward to it. I’m not sure the track will be that different with the concrete and the turns. It seems like concrete is a little bit less temperamental as far as the temperature, especially outside. I don’t expect it to be a whole lot different. I think the biggest question for us right now is just the tires. The tires are different and that can have such a huge impact at Martinsville. So, with no practice, kind of going back and building off of the things that we’ve learned there with our car and being able to win last fall. Are those things going to work still? And, how is the tire going to change the way the car drives and what it needs to do to be fast? Definitely a lot of question marks there as far as that goes I think more so than just being at night.”
Have the drivers talked about the Confederate flag issue among yourselves or is this something that only comes up when the media asks you about it?
“I have not had any conversations about it. I think it’s one of those things that some of us are just ignorant about and don’t really think about it or worry about it. And then you hear somebody like Bubba (Wallace) talk about it and how he feels about it and it wakes you up a bit. Yeah, I think NASCAR is going to do the right thing there and I stand with what they come up with there. I’ve learned a lot just from listening to Bubba and his take on things. Just seeing a lot of things that I haven’t really thought about. It’s interesting to see that and hear that. I think they’ll do the right thing obviously.”
Do you enjoy the mid-week races and would you like to see them continue?
“I think from a driver’s perspective, for me, I think it’s been good. I’ve enjoyed it. The fact that we’ve had all one day shows and no practice, no qualifying has made it a little bit easier on the teams. I think I would be all for it. Everybody has always talked about how long our season is and it would certainly be a way to shorten up the schedule timeline wise. I think it falls more on the teams and what they are capable of. It’s a lot of work to prepare race cars and do all the things you need to do to show up to the race track and race. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes. I think for the drivers, it’s easy. You show up and you race. I think you have to ask the teams more about how they feel about it and how many races could they do in a short amount of time like that.”
How will the new package play into the race at Martinsville?
“I think we have a lot of experience with the low downforce at short tracks. We’re going back to 2018 and earlier. I think what we’ve seen there is pretty consistently more competitive racing. It’s easier to make passes. Last year, when we had the super-high downforce on the short tracks, it was difficult to make passes, it was difficult to get to the guy in front of you. At line sensitive race tracks like Martinsville, where predominantly you are pretty much stuck to the bottom where who can run closest to the curb, and those kinds of things, it made it difficult to pass. We were able to lead a ton of laps, Brad (Keselowski) dominated the first part of the race. I think we’ll see for sure more competitive racing. It sounds like what they are bringing for a tire should add to that. We’ll have to wait and see because the tires are something that is really, really sensitive at Martinsville in how they lay down rubber and how things change there. That’s certainly going to play into it, and we’ll have to wait and see how that goes.”
How close do you feel you are to winning now?
“I feel real close. I feel we were in position to win three or four already. It’s just one of those things where we haven’t had everything come together. This past weekend at Atlanta, I felt like we had a dominant car through the first two stages, and just lost the handling a little bit there in stage three. Track cooled off a little bit. The car changed a little bit and you find yourself not able to track down the leader again. We’ve been right there. I feel like we had a shot at winning Darlington and the Coke 600. Those are the past couple races. I feel like we are right there, and we are working to get better each week. I think as far as the things with James (Small, crew chief), it’s a learning process. That’s been pretty seamless really. We know each other and we’ve worked together long enough to know that, and I don’t think that’s anything that is holding us up. It’s just a matter of putting all the little details together and executing.”
How different will Homestead-Miami Speedway be with it not be the championship race?
“It’s definitely going to be different. Just like Joey (Logano) said, I think since ’05 or ’04 I’ve been going there trying to win a championship. That’s really, I guess I have to go back all the way to ’03, the first time I ran there, actually the second time I ran there to know what it feels like to race for a championship there. It’s going to feel different, but I think every race this year has felt different just because, since the COVID thing, every race has felt a lot different without the fans. We’re certainly missing them. It feels a lot different. We’ll see how it plays out. Great race track, it’s one of my favorites. It’s going to be hot and slick racing in the daytime. I think it will fit right into what we do with the 19 car.”
What specifically is changing with this new set of tires?
“It’s hard to really know until you drive on them. They change construction, change compounds, so they are trying to give some more grip and more traction. When that happens, basically the rubber gets softer and stickier. It sticks to the track better as well as the tires wear out. They are trying to get the track to rubber in. Increase tire wear, increase the speed fall off throughout the run and hopefully give us more options as far as moving around running different lanes through the corners and things like that.”
How do you feel about a NASCAR official kneeling during the national anthem?
“I think that’s up to them, whatever they feel like is right for them, then they’ll do that. That is certainly something I wouldn’t do, but everybody is allowed to do what they want.”
How does it feel to be a part of the first professional sport back in action and without fans?
“Being back has been great. It’s putting a lot of eyeballs on our sport, maybe quite a few new ones as well, which is good. I think for us, just being able to get back to work has been good. Hopefully the whole country gets to go back to work soon. I think there’s a lot of things out there that are happening and show it’s time. Missing the fans. I think we all miss them. It feels so different. You know when you’re racing you don’t really look in the stands, you don’t really feel that energy or anything. When you’re out of the car, especially the grid pre-race, it just feels weird. It’s quiet, there’s not a whole lot going on. You don’t hear people yelling for you, hooting and hollering having a great time at the race track. It’s a little bit weird in that perspective. We’re definitely missing them, and I can’t wait to see the day when they return.”
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