Martin Truex Jr.
Las Vegas Advance
No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing
Event Overview
● Event: South Point 400 (Round 33 of 36)
● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 20
● Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
● Layout: 1.5-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 267 laps/400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Notes of Interest
● Four To Go: After a 21th-place finish last weekend on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval, Truex sits 14th in the driver standings with 2,146 points heading to this weekend’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
● Truex has two wins, seven top-five finishes, 16 top-10s and has led a total of 317 laps in 25 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Las Vegas. Truex’s average Las Vegas finish is a strong 9.8, best among active drivers with Joey Logano a close second with an average finish of 9.9.
● Truex notched his most recent Las Vegas victory in September 2019, when he led 32 laps. It was his second win on the 1.5-mile oval and first at Las Vegas since joining Joe Gibbs Racing.
● Looking for 35: Truex’s July 2023 win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon was his most recent Cup Series win, the 34th of his career, tying him with 2004 champion Kurt Busch for 25th on the all-time Cup Series win list.
● Ahead at this Stage: Truex has accumulated 64 stage wins since the beginning of the stage era in 2017. He is the only driver with 10 or more stage sweeps, with his latest sweep coming at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn in August 2023. Truex scored his fourth stage win of the season last month at Watkins Glen, leading the field across the line at the end of Stage 1.
Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE
What are you expecting at Las Vegas this weekend with your No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Camry XSE?
“I expect it to be a great race out in Vegas. I love going out there and it’s a great racetrack. Vegas is a great track that’s wide and you can run all over. We saw a lot of guys run high there the last couple of years and we’ve also gotten better as a team at being able to get through the bumps and moving around. I’ve won there before and I’m always confident we can go out there and run up front and have a shot to get our Bass Pro Shops Camry to victory lane.”
Does “Sin City” still live up to its name when you race out there?
“Not really. Honestly, for us on a two-day weekend, it’s all business. I don’t even leave the track when we go there. It’s not like the banquet – that was fun. When we go to racetracks, it’s all business for everyone. It’s just too serious. There is too much on the line and the commitment level and the focus it takes is higher than it has ever been.”
How has the level of parity changed in the Cup Series?
“I think it has changed a lot since I’ve been here. The last few years with the NextGen car has been the biggest change, I would say. It has constantly evolved since I’ve come into the sport as far as trying to tighten things up, but the NextGen car just has taken it to a new level. You are talking about everybody having the same parts and pieces – that’s never been a part of this sport. That’s definitely been the game changer.”
Talk about tire strategy at Las Vegas, and how late-race cautions affect your strategy.
“It’s an interesting place, it’s fast and high-speed and has tire falloff but, for whatever reason, it’s a place that has unique asphalt, and when the tires cool off, you can fire off and run one or two fast laps. These days, with these cars, if you can get that clean air and get those two to three car lengths out in front of guys who are on better tires behind you, and guys between you and the four-tire guys, you have a huge advantage for a few laps. It’s all about what the other guy does. You can be the only guy on two tires and you are a sitting duck, but if you have four to five guys behind you on two tires, you have a bit of a buffer, so it just depends on what goes on around you.”
No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Team Roster
Primary Team Members
Driver: Martin Truex Jr.
Hometown: Mayetta, New Jersey
Crew Chief: James Small
Hometown: Melbourne, Australia
Car Chief: Chris Jones
Hometown: Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia
Race Engineer: Jaik Halpainy
Hometown: Blockville, New York
Spotter: Drew Herring
Hometown: Benson, North Carolina
Road Crew Members
Underneath Mechanic: Ryan Martin
Hometown: Mechanicsburg, Virgina
Mechanic: Todd Carmichael
Hometown: Redding, California
Interior/Tire Specialist: Tommy DiBlasi
Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland
Engine Tuner: Beau Morton
Hometown: Lake Havasu City, Arizona
Transporter Driver: Kyle Bazzell
Hometown: Fairbury, Illinois
Transporter Driver: Eddie DeGroot
Hometown: Baldwinsville, New York
Over-The-Wall Crew Members
Gas Man: Matt Tyrrell
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Jackman: Caleb Dirks
Hometown: Riverside, California
Tire Carrier: CJ Bailey
Hometown: Outer Banks, North Carolina
Front Tire Changer: Thomas Hatcher
Hometown: Middleburg, Florida
Rear Tire Changer: Lee Cunningham
Hometown: Leaf River, Illinois
