Toyota Racing – Martin Truex Jr.
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
KANSAS CITY (October 18, 2020) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to media via videoconference in advance of the race at the Kansas Speedway:
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How much of an advantage do you believe it is to win at either Kansas or Texas?
“I don’t know. I think it’s a little bit of an advantage just because you kind of know your game plan and you know you are going to Phoenix and you get to work on it, so you don’t have to spend quite as much time on Texas and Martinsville, depending on which race you win. It just gives you a little extra time to prepare. You lift two weeks off the hot seat there. It’s pretty relaxing. It just gives you a little more time.”
Do you think it’s bigger from a mental stand point or a team preparation stand point?
“Definitely, team preparation.”
I’ve heard you may have to start from the back today. How big of a challenge is it starting from the back?
“I just heard I was. It’s not optimum. It’s not what you are hoping for. I don’t know. We will see. We have done it a lot this year. It is what it is. We will deal with it. This place, fortunately, there are a lot of lanes that you can run, really the whole racetrack works. You just have to go where they are not and pick them off one-by-one.”
How do you keep perspective coming into the Round of 8?
“It’s just another race, really. Obviously, there is a lot on the line. The next three are very important. The next three are probably the most difficult. It’s been whittled down to the best eight and you have to beat half of them. It’s definitely a challenge. I definitely feel like we are up to it. As far as my approach, I approach this as just another race, because you kind of have to. You can’t change who you are just because of what race it is and where you are at. We will go do our thing today and hopefully have a solid day. I feel like we probably had the strongest car last time we were here, and it didn’t quite go the way we needed it to the last 50 or so laps of the race. We lost track position and had to battle back from it, but the weather is a lot different today. It’s a few months later and guys are really pushing, probably, pushing with new stuff for the Playoffs, so we will see how that plays into it, but optimistic. This has been a good track for us. I’m looking forward to see what we can do today.”
How does the cold weather affect the driver?
“The biggest thing is when it’s cold out the driver is nice and comfortable. Normally, when it’s hot, we are not very comfortable at all. That’s the biggest thing. It’s going to be nice in the car today. It will be nice and comfortable with the heater on. The track is going to be really fast. A lot of on throttle time. Generally, it makes it a little bit harder to pass when it’s cool because the bottom is going to be more dominate, I would say. Everybody is going to handle pretty good. No one is going to be really bad, like when it’s hot out, slippery. It’s going to be a challenge for sure, but hopefully the tires will wear enough that we can get the track widen out and move around a bit.”
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