Toyota Racing – Martin Truex Jr.
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (April 9, 2021) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to media via videoconference prior to the Martinsville event today:

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Should we read more into these next five races since they are at Playoff tracks?

“I don’t know, obviously, every race is important, being that they are Playoff tracks is definitely important. I don’t know that you can look and say here are the guys that are going to do good in the Playoffs just because they run well the next few weeks. A lot changes in between now and then. I look forward to hopefully running well and hopefully getting a few more wins and building a notebook for the Playoffs is definitely an important thing.”

Do you have any sort of standards that you would like to see as the garage potentially opens back up to sponsor guests?

“No, honestly hadn’t put much thought into it. Just waiting to see what’s going on first. For now, I don’t know of anything changing. I haven’t been told anything. We will cross that bridge when we get there.”

How did you learn to tackle Martinsville or start liking Martinsville?

“It’s a tough place. It’s a place once you figure out some things with your cars and how you like for them to feel. If they don’t change the tires too much, you can kind of take that and run with it and build on it that success. For us, it’s just been really figuring out what I needed in my car and making it do the things I needed it to do. We’ve been able to kind of do that here these last few trips pretty consistently. Just hope that we can make that happen again. It’s a tricky little place. It looks like Martinsville would be a pretty easy track just because it’s pretty small and flat corners and things like that, but it’s real technical and a lot goes on with the way the rubber gets down in the corners on the concrete and that can change things really drastically, so we will see when we get there this time around, but the last few races we were really strong, and I felt like we had a shot to win both of them. Of course, we won the spring race, so looking forward going up to Martinsville, and hopefully we can continue that success.”

Can you learn anything from watching the Xfinity race?

“I think you can definitely learn. It’s one of the places where you can see where the rubber lays down, things like that, at nighttime, so we will be watching for sure and see what it looks like.”

How much is patience a key element with how your approach Martinsville?

“I would say it’s important for sure, especially on restarts. For whatever reason, if you get hung outside, it’s pretty frustrating. That or pit road penalties, things like that happening can be pretty frustrating to make passes. Patience is key. It’s a long race. You need to be around at the end. That’s the key to short tracks always.”

How much can rain alter the track?

“It just depends on what happens. Last year, we went there, and I believe the Xfinity cars were not there – we were the first cars on track and that first run the rubber on the track was really hard on the tires. We saw guys run up towards the front at the end, and we were one of them, but we fell back to 15th I think that first run. It was pretty bad. It will definitely change things up, but once we get going in the race, it’s not a big deal either way.”

What are the differences in driving Martinsville at night versus the day?

“Really, not that much different. They light it up pretty good, so not a whole lot different. I think the biggest change is probably how the rubber lays down into the concrete in the corners and what is the track temperature going to be. Typically, during the day the suns out, and that can make it pretty slick. At nighttime, a little more gripped up, more traction in the corners for the most part, usually a little more tire wear as well.”

Have you seen your team have momentum this year?

“I have a good feeling about things. Last year, we had a good season, but it was a little bit up and down. We had some tough weeks, and some really good ones, and a lot of really close second and third-place finishes. A lot to build on. I feel like we’ve hit the ground here with more confidence and understanding the no practice and how it all works, and the guys are doing a good job hitting the setups better when we start the race, so that’s been a really good thing. I guess the biggest surprise for me at Bristol not having a lot of dirt experience, was not knowing what to expect, so I didn’t have high expectations going into there. I just wanted to go there, have fun and enjoy myself. We definitely did that. It was cool to win the Truck race. Unfortunately, got the flat tire on the green-white-checkered in the Cup car, but strong run all day. I had a lot of fun and look forward to doing it again.”

Is there anything you are doing differently this season?

“Not really, I would just say better prepared for not having practice is the biggest thing. James (Small), my crew chief – last year was his first year, so just continuing to build on what we did last year and understanding things better has been a big key.

Are there any adjustments you would like to see on future Cup Series dirt events?

“Not really anything big. I think the only thing was we need to figure out how to keep the dust down more. I think our races are so long, typical dirt track races are probably 50 laps or something, and by the end of that race it was a real change with the dust. Trying to figure that out, but really that was the only thing. I thought everything else went well and it was lot of fun.”

How do you feel about where your team is at this point of the season?

“I feel really good about where we are. I feel like we’ve been strong everywhere, especially since we’ve been to a lot of different types of racetracks so far. We’ve been pretty strong at just about all of them. I’m feeling good about where we are. It’s still early. There is a lot of things that are going to change, and we have to continue to work to find things to make our cars faster and continue to work hard and make sure that we are not making mistakes and do all the little things right which is always a challenge. I feel great about it. I feel like we have a championship winning team, no doubt about it. We are ready to get after it and see if we can get it done.”

Does the change from grass to concrete at Martinsville matter at all?

“I don’t think it does. I think your sight line is really the curb around the racetrack, so I don’t think you will change anything at all from what it looks like on TV.”

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