MONDAY MARTIN DOMINATES AT NEW HAMPSHIRE
Martin Truex Jr. scores dominating victory, retakes points lead.
LOUDON, NH (July 17, 2023) – Martin Truex Jr. earned his third victory of the season and first ever Cup Series win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the rain-delayed Monday edition of the Crayon 301. Truex won both stages and led 254 of 301 laps on his way to the win. Truex has now won twice on Monday this season (Dover). With the strong performance, Truex retook the points lead heading into Pocono Raceway. The New Jersey-native led four Toyotas inside the top-10 with Tyler Reddick in sixth, Denny Hamlin finishing seventh and Bubba Wallace in eighth. With the finish, Wallace moved back inside the provisional Playoff field.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Race 20 of 36 – 318.46 miles, 301 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
2nd, Joey Logano*
3rd, Kyle Larson*
4th, Kevin Harvick*
5th, Brad Keselowski*
6th, TYLER REDDICK
7th, DENNY HAMLIN
8th, BUBBA WALLACE
27th, TY GIBBS
29th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
Is there a win you wanted more than this one?
“I don’t think so. What we’ve been able to do here over the years is pretty remarkable, and to not win was really getting frustrating. James (Small) and I talked about it many times. We thought about it all weekend, talked about it with Christopher (Bell) before the race. He’s like, man, you’ve led more laps here than I’ve even raced in Cup. Just really an awesome job by everybody. What a race car we had today. Just proud of the whole team. Pit stops were flawless. Race car was unbelievable. We had some challenges at times throughout the race and it was a handful at times, but we just kept our heads down, kept digging. Thanks to everybody at racers, Bass Pro, Auto Owners, Toyota TRD, everybody back at the shop, JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), all our fans, Oakley, FlightSafety, just all the people that help us. This is feeling really, really good to do what we did today and finally cap it off with a lobster.”
How much significance does that add to this for the Truex family?
“It’s a lot. That’s a big part of it. I sat in Turn 1 with my mom. My little brother was drinking out of a bottle, so it was — we were young, 12, 13, maybe 14, whatever. But this is the first big track I ever came to with my dad and watched and the first time I ever seen Cup cars in person and Busch cars in person. It’s been a special place for us. Being able to win K&N, being able to win the Busch Series, this one has been eluding me for a long, long time, so I’m just really, really happy, really thankful, and I can’t say enough about my team, man. They’re incredible. I’m lucky I get to drive these things.”
What were you thinking on those final few restarts? Cautions kept coming out and you had it in hand.
“Stop wrecking, everybody just stop wrecking. Yeah, luckily, we were able to hold them off. The car was just so fast. I don’t know, I don’t even know what to say. I’m speechless. Been after this one a long time. This one is sweet.”
Here you are, finally. How does it feel?
“It feels amazing. I’m so proud of everyone on our team and all of our sponsors. What a Reser’s Camry we had today. I kept waiting for something stupid to happen, like always does here. We’ve led so many laps here over the years but could never lead that last one. Today, the car was on rails, and the guys did a great job. We were able to make our way through traffic better than normal. Tough day, but we fought hard and had a lot of speed.”
What were you thinking after that late two-tire stop?
“You just always hope you come out in the right spot and the guys around you have two. We did what we needed to. That was the right call. James (Small) has been on it this year and the cars have been fast and we’ve been clicking all cylinders. We’ve got a bad-ass team and I’m excited for the rest of the year.”
What else is left this year outside of a championship?
“That’s it. That’s all that matters right now. We’ve got to keep winning. Bonus points are huge for the Playoffs, and we racked them up today, so we’ve got to keep doing it.”
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