No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota
Atlanta Motor Speedway
CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex is on a hot streak as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday night’s 500-mile race. The Mayetta, N.J. native owns two top-four finishes in the last three races and has scored the seventh most points in the last five races.
Truex finished second – his best 2011 finish – at Bristol last weekend and expects the streak to continue at the ultra-fast 1.5-mile track in Hampton, Ga. – just 44 miles from NAPA’s corporate headquarters in Atlanta. Truex has a lot on the line this weekend. A victory puts him in the hunt for one of the two wildcard berths in the “Chase.”
TRUEX QUOTES
MARTIN TRUEX JR. ON NAPA TEAM’S PERFORMANCE: “I’m so proud of my guys and all the hard work they continue to do. It’s nice for them to get a reward like the finish at Bristol. I sure wish we could have ended up in victory lane. We were close and it may very well happen this weekend in Atlanta. It’s another good track for me and my crew chief Chad Johnston continues to do a great job with setting up the NAPA Toyota. It would mean a lot to get the race win at NAPA’s home track. With all the momentum we have been carrying, I think we can go out and win Atlanta as well as Richmond. Chad has come up with some new things for our NAPA Toyota this weekend. If we run a smart race in Atlanta, Richmond could be an extremely exciting time for my team. I am so happy with this team and all the things we’ve done. That’s all I can ask for right now.”
WILD CARD RACE: “The change NASCAR made to the point system with the addition of two wild cards is cool deal! This NAPA team has had an up and down season and yet we still have a chance to get in. My entire NAPA team is pumped and I know of other teams who are looking forward to the next two races because of the opportunities they present. I think all of the pressure is on the teams sitting in positions ninth through 11th. For us, we’re going out with guns blazing. I think we are in a great position.”
ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST
· AMS AUTOGRAPH SIGNINGS: On Saturday, Truex will visit the Schick Get Fresh Mobile Display from 3:55 to 4:15 p.m. Autographs will be guaranteed for the first 40 fans in line. Then on Sunday, he’ll stop by the Michael Waltrip Racing souvenir rig from 4 to 4:20 p.m. Tickets for autographs will be given out so come early.
· Sunday night’s race marks Truex’s 214th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 13th at Atlanta Motor Speedway. At AMS, he has earned two top-10 and four top-15 finishes. His average start is 17th and finish is 24nd. He has led 204 laps in competition.
· NAPA KNOW HOW! The NAPA team won two race awards in the Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Truex, who finished second in the race, won the $5,000 Mobil 1 driver of the Race award. Earlier this month, the NAPA took home the honor after its fourth-place finish at Watkins Glen. Plus, crew chief Chad Johnston won the $5,400 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race award for improving lap times .049 seconds from first half of the race to the second half.
· CHECK THIS OUT! NAPA Know How with Larry McReynolds takes users behind the scenes to see what it takes to build a race car from scratch. Through this 5 part video series, Larry goes step by step showing viewers the process race teams go through to build a race car, get it certified, and on the track for race day. Check it out at:
http://www.nascar.com/video/features/know_how/.
