Toyota Racing – Martin Truex Jr.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Richmond Raceway – April 12, 2019
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to the media in Richmond:
MARTIN TRUEX JR, No. 19 Auto Owners Insurance Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How would you evaluate this season so far?
“So far it’s been good. Honestly, we haven’t gotten the results we probably deserve. We’ve had some tough races like last week. Drive up to second from a bad qualifying effort and have a loose wheel that puts us two laps down and then basically your race is over. We’ve had some hurdles for sure, but I think performance-wise, the team’s done a good job and we’ve run well. We’ve had a shot at winning a couple races already. Going to a new team with all new rules, I think it’s been a pretty good start, but certainly looking for more.”
How new is the new team?
“It’s a new group of guys and a new group of people. New pit crew. Just the way everybody fits together, works together – it’s a little bit different and that’s always something that can take a while to get rolling. Honestly, I think probably the rules and getting arms around that is a bigger story than new people here and there.”
Do you think you would have the same performance if you were still the 78 team?
“I don’t see why not. It’s hard to answer that question. I feel like we were so dialed in on that old package and our team – our stuff we liked to do and stuff that worked for us. We kind of had each track somewhat nailed down. Now each week it’s kind of new and you’re learning as you go so from that standpoint, it’s really hard to answer that question.”
Are the competition meetings different as a member of Joe Gibbs Racing?
“I would say they probably feel a bit more different than they are, to be honest. You feel like part of the team now and not a competitor. It’s great and it’s been really good.”
Are you still able to do things the way you want to do then or have you have to conform in some ways?
“I would say we pretty much do everything the way we want. Cole (Pearn, crew chief) might have a different answer on certain things. He kind of knows more of the day-to-day stuff and details. I think for the most part, for what I see, we get to do our own thing and we have leeway to make some options here and there and make decisions. Some guys want to go down one path and if we want to go down a different one then certainly I feel like we have the ability to do that.”
Do you feel the team members that went from the 78 to the 19 are happy?
“I don’t know. It’s really hard to answer these questions. I don’t live in these guys’ heads all week. I know they’re doing a great job and things are going well – that’s really all I can ask for. They’re professionals and at the end of the day, we’re here to do a job and that’s what we’re here to do. They’re doing a good job at it right now. I’m not a psychiatrist I guess is what I was trying to say.”
How do you feel coming into this race after a strong result in the fall?
“In general, over the last couple of years, this track has been really good for us. We’ve led so many laps, it’s kind of been one that we’ve let slip away a few times or kind of had things go against us towards the end of a few of them. From that standpoint, I always look forward to coming here and just trying to get some redemption. I love this track. It’s a great place to race. It’s more similar I would say to the short tracks that I grew up racing on, especially in the K&N Series, than anywhere we go. Martinsville and Bristol, they’re short tracks, but they’re so unique and so different to anywhere you could grow up racing across the country. I feel like you come here and you feel a little bit of that old short track feel of the car – the way it drives and the way you need to work on it. From the handling to the way you have to finesse the car, make tires last and those kinds of things. I really like this track, it’s very unique from that standpoint on our circuit. It’s a huge challenge for sure, but it’s been a good one for us, we just haven’t quite got that win yet.”
What are you able to learn from Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin with their success this year?
“I think when they say things you can pretty much guarantee that it’s right. They’re not just guessing or just talking to talk. If they say things about the car, things about the track or what they think it’s going to do, it’s not really taking a gamble taking their advice I guess. From that standpoint, that’s been good and all of us having a lot of experience, even Erik (Jones) has a lot of experience now and I feel like we get a lot out of each other. Not only as drivers, but our teams all working together – we get a lot out of each other. I feel like as a group, we go forward on the weekends from start to finish and that’s always a positive.”
How much has the success of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin given you confidence every week?
“It always gives you confidence when your cars are fast and we’ve seen that. We’ve had enough speed to win races this year, we just haven’t put it all together. A couple seconds and a couple races where we felt like we had a car capable of winning and things didn’t work out. From that deal, we’re confident. Everybody is doing a good job, but it’s still early in the year and a lot is changing, things are changing fast. New rules for this year at all these race tracks and you have to stay on top of it, you have to keep pushing to try to find more because everybody is.”
Are there times when Kyle Busch is so hot on the track he seems invincible?
“Yeah, I’d say right now. Like last week, he even said he wasn’t going to win the race and the next thing you know he’s leading and they stay out and he drives off into the sunset. This sport is kind of cyclical. There’s a lot of highs and lows, but once you get on a roll – I’ve been on teams where you just get on a roll and you can’t do anything wrong. Then there’s other times like for us this year, it doesn’t seem like you can do anything right. It’s just the way it goes sometimes and you just have to work through it all and keep pushing to try to find more speed all the time. For me, as a driver I’m always looking at how I can be better or what I can do different. It changes so fast week to week with tires, cars and setups – just the rules and all the things we’re doing all the time, it’s always changing.”
How frustrating is it to have the potential you have and be going through this period?
“Honestly, it’s part of racing. I would say that most years or most of the time in racing, you feel this way. You feel like you’re not getting the results you deserve. I don’t know if it comes from it being a tough sport or the fact that a great season if you win six, seven, eight races – you still lose a lot more than you win. You’re always kind of playing defense somewhat and trying to get better and move forward. It is tough when you kind of have an unlucky streak going or feel like things aren’t going your way or not getting the results you deserve. Honestly, I’ve been through it a lot in my career and it pushes you to drive harder and try to get more out of the car and work harder to come in the next week and hopefully turn the tables.”
Are you happy at Joe Gibbs Racing?
“Yeah, it’s been great. I love it and everybody there has been awesome. I feel like part of the family so it’s been great.”
Is it easier to handle the unlucky streak after your success the past few years?
“Yeah, I would say absolutely. It absolutely is. You can be like, it’s just a race and we’ll get them next week. When you’re early in your career and you haven’t got those results yet, it really hurts because you feel like everybody forgets or everybody is questioning you and they really don’t pay attention to the race and didn’t see what happened for instance. If you didn’t know we had a loose wheel last week, you would have said we finished 19th or 17th, I don’t even know where we finished because I don’t care. When a race goes bad like that, you just have to forget about it. It’s definitely harder to do as a young guy or a new guy coming up trying to make your mark. For me, the last couple years have kind of proved what we’re capable of and we’re not satisfied with anything less than that. We really could care less what people say or write or think or anything like that. We are our own worst critics and I think that’s the best way to go racing.”
Is it harder to get over bad races now after being so successful?
“It’s easier to deal with the crappy days. There’s no question. It’s no easier to win, I can promise you that. It’s still very, very difficult. I don’t think that challenge ever gets easier, especially in this sport we’re in and all these people around this garage – top to bottom – are so good, so smart and you have to stay on top of it.”
What do you think Talladega will be like?
“I couldn’t tell you. It’s going to be really fast is all I know. Really fast. I think that in testing from what we’ve heard, how fast they were going, they had to keep slowing them down and that’s with three cars on the track. I don’t know, we get 38 cars, 35 car pack or something like that – it’s going to be fast.”
Does the potential of those speeds at Talladega worry you?
“No, not really. I really don’t know how the cars are going to drive, how they’re going to handle or what its going to be like. We’ve never had anywhere near this much horsepower at a restrictor track before. It’s going to be a whole new learning experience, just like every other week this year I suppose.”
What do you anticipate with this package in the race at Richmond?
“It seems like the shorter the track, the less the changes from last year had affected things. Martinsville was a little different, Bristol was a little different and here feels a little different. Not huge and not a huge change with the more downforce. Of course they changed the tire as well so you never know which is which. Do we have less grip in the tire, more in the car? Speeds today weren’t as quick as I thought they would be, I thought the track felt slicker than it should have so I would assume we had a little less grip in the tires.”
What is it about Richmond that fits your driving style?
“Just the old school kind of short track feel. It’s really slippery out there. I can’t stress enough how slick this track is and especially on the long runs how bad the wheel spin is and how the cars just don’t handle good here. The tires wear out and the pace gets really slow. Just managing the car and kind of being somewhat of a finesse driver and being able to finesse the car and take care of it I think. I feel like I’ve gotten better at it over the years and here, I think as a team we’ve just really hit on some things that have worked for us in the past. Hopefully they work again for us this weekend.”
Do you feel like Richmond ‘owes you one?’
“Man, I’ve been down that road. Nothing owes you anything. You have to earn it in this sport. It’s tough. A perfect example, Jimmie Johnson has won how many races at Martinsville and he went there this year and he’s two laps down. None of these places owe you anything, you have to go out and get it.”
If you could pick anything to do with horsepower or the package, what would you do at Talladega?
“I really enjoy the old cars at Talladega. I guess it would be Gen-5. I really thought those cars were fun. They were kind of more strategic, you had to really setup your runs and it wasn’t just like everybody could get a run and make a pass at any time. You had to kind of play that strategy. I guess we had a lot less horsepower and a lot slicker race car. I would go that direction, but I guess it depends on who you ask and at the end of the day, Talladega is not my favorite in general, it hasn’t been very kind to me.”
What is the simple reason why you and Cole Pearn aren’t dominating races right now?
“Rule changes, lots of them. Lots and lots of rule changes, that’s the best I can tell you. I think if you talk to Cole (Pearn, crew chief), he’ll tell you as well, we haven’t executed that well as a group. Friday’s have really hurt us. Last week was another example of that, we qualified 23rd at Bristol. We had a car we probably could have won with. We just have to put together a full weekend. Honestly, we’ve been good enough to win four or five races already I think. Part of the race we’re good here, part of the race we’re good there and we have a mistake here and a mistake there, you just have to do it all right and you have to be perfect. We haven’t been able to do that yet. Everybody is so close and so tight here, you have to have everything perfect. One little mistake, whether it’s with the car setup or making a wrong decision going into a race or one pit stop – a bad qualifying or a bad pit stall, little things they add up and just can’t afford them here.”
How did you get better at not speeding on pit road?
“Try to be as aggressive as you can without stepping over the line. Another place you have to get all you can because if you give up one or two seconds on pit road, that could be two or three spots. At the end of a race, that could be the difference in winning and losing. It’s definitely difficult and something you have to work on with your team. I think that the more we work on it and the more we talk about it, seems like the more it’s helped. If you just go in the race blind and say, yeah we’re going to be fine then that’s when I feel like it bites you.”
Do you have the dashboard setup a certain way to keep you from speeding?
“Everybody does their lights a little different with how they set their dash. We have a digital dash so you can choose any color lights or how many lights you want to have and then I know the engine tuners and stuff, they can set filters to make it more accurate or less accurate. It’s a whole thing. We kind of just try to keep it the same all the time and adjust our speeds from there. It’s worked pretty well for us. I would say we’re not consistently the best on pit road, but we’re usually right up front and get less speeding penalties than most.”
Does the team ever make you think you’re going one speed when you’re going another?
“That’s the problem, we don’t have any idea how fast we’re going. They set it all, they tell us what to do and we do it. Now if you don’t do it right, they can know and they know when they look at it. I just follow directions basically and my guys do a good job with that.”
Is pit road speed a mental game?
“Not really, it’s just something that it takes a lot of concentration because there’s so much going on. You figure you’re out there racing and you’re so focused on the car and going fast and hitting your marks and racing in traffic. Then all of the sudden you hit pit road and it’s like slow and steady – it’s just different. It’s like when I go home after a race and get in the car or leave the race track in a vehicle and I feel like 50 mph, I’m barely moving. On a normal day, I feel completely normal going 50 mph with traffic. It’s that separation from being on the race track, being 110% all the time to kind of having to reign yourself in and have that control. It’s harder than it should be or harder than it seems for most people.”
