Martin Truex Jr. put the No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet SS on the front row and thus, put himself in good position for Sunday’s Goody’s Headache Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. The lap of 19.227 seconds/98.548 mph gives Truex, Jr. a front row start in the first race of the Eliminator Round in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. It bests the Chase contender’s third place qualifying effort at the 0.526-mile short track in the spring, and marks his career best starting spot at the paper-clipped shaped venue.
JOEY LOGANO – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – “It’s an amazing run we’re on right now. This Shell/Pennzoil team is unbelievable. I’m just the lucky guy that gets to drive this thing right now.
MARTIN TRUEX JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/VISSER PRECISION CHEVROLET SS - Qualified 2nd: "A good pit stall is really important here, obviously. We qualified third here in the spring. Honestly I didn't know we had a car that was that fast today. We stuck with it. The guys did a good job making adjustments there, and we got quicker each round. That's what you've got to do. It's a good starting spot for tomorrow and we'll see what we can do with it. We're looking forward to it."
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Starting Position: 6th - How do you feel about your starting position for Sunday’s race? “It’s not bad, it’s probably about what’s to be expected for me around this place."
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AARP MEMBER ADVANTAGES CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed his success at Martinsville, his past issues on pit road, the new SAFER Barriers, giving away a 2003 Monte Carlo SS who lost hers in a fire, his long relationship with Hendrick Motorsports and his sponsor, DuPont (now Axalta), and more.
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 XFINITY Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - How do you feel about coming into this round of the Chase starting with Martinsville? “This track for me has been 0 for whatever or however many times we’ve been here. The spring was a really good race, my teammates have helped me a ton."
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing - How happy are you to be back at Martinsville? “It’s always a smile on my face when I come through the pedestrian tunnel this morning or anytime to be able to come here and race."
Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion, has won the last three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and six overall this season. He visited the infield media center at Martinsville Speedway before practice to talk about the Chase and more.
Bobby Pierce and MB Motorsports hope the magic they created together on the dirt at Eldora transfers to the asphalt of Martinsville Speedway in Saturday's Kroger 200. After scoring the pole, a heat race victory and a second place finish in the MudSummer Classic, Pierce will be making his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series asphalt debut when he slides behind the wheel of the No. 63 RPM Services, LLC / Pixographs Chevy Silverado.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Taylor Gray was made available to the media on Friday prior to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race from Talladega Superspeedway.
Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing joins the 50th anniversary celebration of Roush, the engineering and technology company founded by Jack Roush in 1976.
