Toyota Racing – Martin Truex Jr.
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
DAYTONA BEACH (February 15, 2023) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to media prior to the Daytona 500 on Wednesday:
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
Did the win at the Clash give your team more motivation coming into this weekend?
“Yeah, I mean I think it all started the day we left Phoenix. Just the motivation and determination to try to fix all our issues and make sure we don’t make more mistakes this year. We’ll see, but so far so good, right. I think it was just good for confidence, good for momentum. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team so fired up to get to the race track as my guys have been. I think that’s a good thing and hopefully we can just keep that momentum going.”
Having won at Fontana, does it make it bittersweet that the track might be going away?
“It does, I love the race track, it’s one of my favorites and I’m not one to pick favorites. I’m going to miss it and hopefully we have a good last showing out there, it’s been good for us.”
With the challenges of the new car on the short tracks, do we need another short track on the schedule?
“I think we need a lot of short tracks, but we have to fix the car. I think there’s been work done in that area. We’ll see how it turns out, but we have to have short tracks. They’re part of the sport that we all started doing. We have to figure out how to make the short tracks good again and hopefully the changes will do that.”
What are you able to learn from your past experience here and finishing second before to go after the win this year?
“Just experience and understand those situations and maybe make the right decision or do things a little bit differently, but I don’t really think too much about the past when we talk about racing other than recently or something I can take something from that could help. But just that we were second, okay, whatever. That was a while ago.”
Do you have a general idea with 10 laps to go in this race on where you want to go or where you want to be on the track?
“It’s so circumstantial based on where you are in the field and who’s around you and you know how your car’s driving. There’s a lot going on, you’re just trying to make the best decisions you can for yourself at all times. And that can be different depending on a lot of things. Do you have damage? Something as simple as that. Can you even make a move? Who’s with you? So many things to think about in those situations.”
Do you think about things ratcheting up at the end of the race?
“You can tell when it’s coming usually, sometimes you can’t, but usually you know things are pretty wild. A lot of times if you think something is going to happen and you get out of the gas or you try to drop back and it doesn’t happen, then you’ve just put yourself behind. It’s so hard to make those decisions at the right time. Like you can say you’re going to bail out and go to the back for a while, but it’s so hard to get through the field with this car. You can’t just go to the back and ride for a while and wait until the last stage and go to the front because then they could just crash because they all want to go to the front at the same time. You just never know. You never know what’s going to happen or when it’s going to happen. I just think the safest spot is always to try to stay near the front.”
Is it a huge relief to get the monkey off your back to get the win in the Clash?
“Yeah, absolutely. I think points or whatever, it’s a big deal. Winning in the Cup Series is a big deal. It’s a big win. Going winless last year and then to be able to go out and do that, it’s huge for us, it’s huge for me. I feel so good about our team and what we’re doing and what we can do. We showed that last year at times, but not consistent enough and then we did have some heartbreakers that were disappointing. Hopefully this year we’ll have a little better luck and we’ll be able to take care of a lot more things ourselves.”
Have you put thought into your retirement if you were to win races this season or win the championship?
“No idea. Literally no idea, I’m not even lying. I’m going to make that decision when the time comes and until then I’m going to go out and try to win a bunch of races. If that’s the case and it’s happening then I’ll probably be back. Pretty simple really.”
How difficult was last season on you?
“It was tough, we never gave up. We worked hard and had a lot of headwinds, a lot of things working against us. At the end of the day, we didn’t win and we need to win so missing the Playoffs by three points and just all these things that happened. We were just right there. We could have turned the season around by just one of those things going right. We were fourth in points at the end of the regular season and we didn’t make the Playoffs. It’s crazy to think about it. That’s the way the season played out and we had to have one of the little things turn our way and they never did. This year we’re just going to work hard. I’ve never seen a team more determined. We’re fired up for the year and going out and winning the Clash showed us that we’re doing the right stuff and we’re going to be fine.”
Is there an advantage or disadvantage to not having practice for this race?
“These days, not really. It’s so sophisticated and there’s so much technology in the background. All the big teams are prepared as well as each other and it’s just a matter of what have we got. What have we got when we get on the track tonight qualifying and then really the Duels tomorrow are the ones I look forward to. Get to see how your car’s driving and what you need to work on to be prepared for Sunday. That’s always a fun race.”
Do you feel it will be more aggressive on track this season because people know the cars better?
“I don’t know on the aggression side, but I think if you look at certain races like if you look at the Duels tomorrow night, they have the potential to me more aggressive because there’s more guys trying to race their way in than normal. If these cars, if everybody’s cars are closer on speed this year and the pack stays bigger then there’s going to be more chance of crashes and more aggression or looking like aggression. If the pack’s smaller, everyone’s aggressive, but you can’t get close so the pack kind of dictates that. That’s going to be a big thing tomorrow night to see how it plays out, but if the pack stays tight and large and grouped together, then it’s going to look more aggressive because you can make those moves and get to each other’s bumpers and push and things like that. Just totally depends on the race tracks , but I don’t think people say that they know the cars now so they’re going to be more aggressive. There’s probably more comfort level with guys now and that just leads to guys getting more out of the car not being more aggressive.”
What does it mean to have an action sports athlete and an IndyCar driver trying to make the Daytona 500?
“Yeah, it’s great to have him (Travis Pastrana) here. He’s done so many things and he’s so popular. He’s done so many different things and for him to have interest in doing what we do is really, really cool. For all of us, it’s neat to have him here and I hope he has a good weekend.”
How do you manage the fact that there are less Toyotas than other manufacturers in the field when it comes to draft packs?
“It’s kind of hard to manage and things that can happen that you can’t really control. If you’re around each other, you try to help each other and you try to work together. I think this car has changed that slightly. Two years ago, we were talking about the last gen car, you would get a line of Fords, a line of Chevys and a line of Toyotas and we would all try to pit together to get separated and then try to make our group go to the front. You really can’t do that now with this car. You can’t afford to give up track position so everybody just seems to get mixed up and you end up working with whoever you’re around to make your line go forward. Then when it comes down to the end, you just hope you’re around somebody that’s going to be loyal. Usually that’s teammates, but if they’re not around there’s nothing you can do about it. You’re at the mercy of the circumstances and what goes on and you try to make the best decisions from there.”
Have you felt the effects of Kyle Busch leaving Joe Gibbs Racing?
“I think it’s too early to tell. It’s one race. We’ll see how it plays out.”
How were you able to score so many points on superspeedways last season and were you surprised by that?
“No, I honestly felt like this car for me on superspeedways felt more comfortable and I guess the way I like to do things, it fit my style better. I guess more ’04, ’05, ’06 era with those cars being straight up and not so bad on the side draft. Then we had a little bit of luck too. Also our cars were really fast on speedways lasty year so it takes all those things to come together.”
Does it feel likely for this race to go into overtime?
“I think when you get down to the end and everybody just holds it wide open and just throws caution to the wind and makes holes that aren’t there and push too hard, cut people off, block and just all the things that cause wrecks all happen at the end because people have to do that to try to stay up front or get there. There’s a damn good chance it happens again.”
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