TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Martin Truex Jr. — Notes & Quotes
Watkins Glen International – August 10, 2012
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing How does it feel to be back at Watkins Glen this weekend? “I’m just excited to be here. I really enjoy the road course racing, especially here at Watkins Glen. This is a place that is pretty special to me coming up here as a kid watching my dad race and then running some Busch North races up here. It’s one of the tracks that is kind of special to me, like New Hampshire and Dover. So, I’m looking forward to the race this weekend. We have some pretty good results here over the past few years. With the job the NAPA team has been doing this year, we’re looking forward to getting on track and seeing what we can come up with and see what kind of weekend we can turn out with.”
How do you prepare for the races in the Chase, and do you share data with your other teammates for the Chase? “I don’t think we’ve gotten ahead of ourselves yet and looked into that. It’s not over until it’s over. We still have five races to go. Yes, we’re in a good position, but we have to keep focused on what we’re doing. I don’t think we’ve sat down and looked into the races upcoming yet. I think throughout this season we’ve done a good job of judging ourselves against the competition and working according to that. I feel like even if we were winning races every weekend, we would still be working hard to be better. That’s been the big change at Michael Waltrip Racing. In the almost three years that I’ve been there, in the past year-and-a-half, it’s a lways been push, push, push. If you’re not winning every race, you can be better — that’s the way the competition works and that’s what we’ve been doing. Let’s say we sat down and looked at the last 10 and said, ‘How are we going to step up our game?’ I don’t think it’s that simple. I think it’s been something that has been put into place before that. We’ve been working on things for months, not necessarily for the last 10 races, but for as soon as we can get them done and into place so we can run faster. We’re constantly working forward, trying to be better. Certainly we could probably look at the last 10 and maybe come up with a bit of a strategy, but we haven’t done that yet.”
What do you think the competition will see when returning to the new racing surface at Bristol? “I have thought about it quite a bit. Our teammate, Clint (Bowyer), did a tire test there and didn’t think, guess he said it wasn’t all that much different. I’m interested to see what it’s like. The last few races there, I’ve ran second and third — pretty much ran the extreme high-side, which has been ground away. I’m not really looking forward to finding out if it’s going to be that much worse. Guys seem to run the middle of the race track and we were able to run the middle. I don’t really think it’s going to be a whole lot different. I think it’s going to be different because that extreme high side is not going to have the speed it’s had in the past few years. I think we’ll have to adjust our setup a little bit and work on some things. Looking forward to Bristol, always do — it’s a great race track and I look forward to going there.”
Do you feel you haven’t been given the recognition you deserve for the way you’ve raced this year? “Honestly, either way doesn’t really matter. I’m paid to go out there and do a job and I feel like I’m doing that as well as I can possibly do it right now. So, for me, that’s enough. I don’t need to read my name in print or be in the headlines — that’s not what I’m here for. I’m here to do my job, have fun doing it, work with my guys and being part of a team. We’ve done a fabulous job this year, I feel like we are stepping up our program on all fronts. I feel like I’ve done a good job as a driver of being a better leader of my team, being a better team player and somebody that’s had a lot of input into where we’re at. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and whether it makes the headlines or not, I could care less.”
How have you seen Michael Waltrip Racing improve on road courses? “You never know what you have until you get on the race track. I’m looking forward to this place drying out soon so we can get out there. We’ve had strong cars on the road courses the past few years. This year at Sonoma, we had a strong car and got tore up at the end unfortunately, like we seem to every year there. We had a lot of speed, obviously Clint (Bowyer) dominated the race, Brian (Vickers) was fast in the 55. We’ve had some great results here the past few years. We ran fourth last year and had a really strong car and looking forward to some things we’ve worked on, putting in place on the race car to come here. I hope to be even better yet. The NAPA Toyota has been strong all year. The coolest thing is every week I go to the track, I’m very optimistic and have a lot of confidence in my team right now with what we’ve been able to accomplish. Even at tracks like Pocono last week, we struggled a little bit throughout the weekend, and we are halfway through the race and we’re the fastest car on the track. It just goes to show what we’re able to do as a team working together with the communication between Chad (Johnston, crew chief) and I — what we’re able to get out of our race cars. I look forward to going to every track, every single weekend, and especially places I’ve had success in the past like here at Watkins Glen.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing How close are you to finishing up your contract extension with MWR? “We’re very, very close. I’m not going to say it’s done, but it’s basically done. I’m very, very happy about that. I guess, it’s one of those deals where we had to work out some details, but there was never a time when the whole thought of going through contract negotiations again came up that there was never a thought of me saying what are my options, what am I thinking. There was none of that. It was how can we get this deal done and moving forward. We’ve come a long way. When you put that much work into something, you don’t want to just say, ‘Ah, I can do this somewhere else,’ because it’s not that easy. I’ve put a lot of effort into being part of that team, to help them build a program and they’ve invested a lot into me to be a part of that program. It’s something that I felt we both wanted to continue and there was never any talk about whether we were going to try to renew it or not, it was what do we have to do to get this deal done from both sides. It was really probably the easiest – well it’s not done yet – it’s been a very easy process and we’ve really concentrated on racing and just kind of tried to do this on the side to get it done. It’s been a pleasure to work with all those guys throughout not only this, but throughout the past three years and I’m looking forward to doing that for a long time to come.”
Do you think you have changed as a person this year? “I’m the same person I’ve always been. It’s just a whole lot easier to do this job and be focused on what you’re doing when your cars are good and your team believes in you and you believe in your team and all that goes along with that. It’s hard to come to the race track when you know you’re not going to be competitive or your chances of being competitive are slim. I feel like I’ve had an opportunity this year — I knew coming into this year I was going to have an opportunity and I wanted to be sure that I made the most of that. And, maybe that’s part of the reason for the focus. I feel like I’ve always focused on my job and put in 110 percent. This year has just felt different. The communication has been so great inside the team, not only with my team and with Chad (Johnston, crew chief) and all of the guys in the NAPA car, but all three of our teams. I feel like all of us have been really engaged in the program and that’s a big reason for why we have two cars in the Chase and could possibly have three if Mark (Martin) would’ve drove full-time. It’s been a lot of fun to do it and it’s been a pleasure to work with everybody. I’m just fortunate to be in this position. I can’t thank my guys at NAPA and everybody enough for what they’ve done — and Michael (Waltrip) and Rob (Kauffman, team owner) for what they’ve put into the race team. I feel like it’s my job to be focused and put in 110 percent every day and that’s what I’m doing.”
