Martin Truex Jr. Again Shows Strength Early in Bristol Before Struggling Late

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March 21, 2011

If Sprint Cup Series races were shorter, Martin Truex Jr. might have a few more race wins on his resume.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Instead the driver of the No. 56 Napa Auto Parts Toyota Camry is pressing onward, waiting for his time to come. It’s not as if his Michael Waltrip Racing team is that far off, entering the Jeff Byrd 500 at Bristol he sat seventh in points and felt momentum was on his side.

Momentum isn’t enough anymore, Truex is hungry for a win. Something he hasn’t experienced since his first career win at Dover in June of 2007. There have been many races with close but no cigar moments. They have been dominating performances but frustrating results. He’s switched teams and manufacturers but it still hasn’t led to victory lane.

It has led Truex to openly admit his expectations of racing and winning at the Cup level were off.

“No, I didn’t think it would be as difficult,” he said Friday.

“I’ve been in position to win a lot more races than one and we just haven’t closed the deal. Obviously, the last few years have been pretty difficult. The first couple went pretty well and we fought for wins a lot. Then we went through two really crazy transition years. Then last year was a new deal for me.”

Truex won the 2004-2005 Nationwide Series championship. Moving to Cup in 2006 paid off early as he was just as competitive as the rest. His more impressive runs included winning the then Nextel Open in 2007 to advance to the All-Star race. A month later he scored his first official Cup win.

That year also brought a spot in the Chase and a finish of 11th in points. In 2009 he won the pole for the Daytona 500 before then announcing he was leaving for MWR.

Truex left a then merged Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing in 2009 after feeling second fiddle to Juan Pablo Montoya. It’s been a hard adjustment going from the NNS with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and being a weekly contender to trying to find his place. Even if there have been bright spots.

“We had the speed last year,” Truex said.

“We had a chance at winning a few races, especially at the end of the season when we got our program going the right direction. It’s just been kind of difficult.”

The 2010 season finale in Homestead was another great race for Truex. He led 62 laps and had Carl Edwards believing the No. 56 could be the driver to beat for the win. A flat tire ruined those chances and Truex finished 11th as Edwards won.

“It’s been hard for me because I’ve won championships and I’ve won races in everything I’ve ever run,” said Truex.

“To go three seasons or so without seeing victory lane again has been difficult. You have to keep working hard, focus on the things you know you can do better and try to be a team player — all those things. It’s been hard, but I know the next win isn’t far — it’s just around the corner.”

If that’s true that corner could have been any of the past few races. Such as the Daytona 500 where Truex felt he could have been the man in the winner’s circle. It was a race where he again led early, 17 laps, but finished 19th at day’s end.

Truex does feel as though his team is heading in the right direction but knows they need to get all the bad out of the way before they can be first to the finish line.

Bristol was not one of those days.

Upon asserting himself near the front of the field early in the going, Truex flexed his muscle. On lap 92 he caught and drove past eventual winner Kyle Busch for the lead and was then able to drive away from the competition and then hold them off in what appeared to be an easy first half of the Jeff Byrd 500.

By days end though, just as it has happened many times before, the laps he racked up didn’t come with the finish it deserved. At Bristol he led 63 total laps and left with a disappointing 17th place finish.

“We got extremely loose at the midpoint of the race and finally got it pretty good at the end,” said Truex.

“But, we smoked the right rear tire off racing Marcos Ambrose. We’ll have to work on our car a little bit to figure out what we need to do to stay up front. We were pretty darn good in the beginning and it was nice to lead all those laps. We just have some work to do.”

According to Truex when the track finally started to get some rubber built into it, that’s when the handling on his machine went away. With it so did another great chance at a victory.

The finish dropped Truex to 10th in points after only four races. Positives taken away come in knowing they’re capable of running up front with the likes of Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch.

Next the Napa team will know how to win the race in the last 100-200 miles instead of the first.

Sprint Fan Vote Kicks Off Wednesday, March 23

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March 21, 2011

Dakoda Armstrong To Drive No. 98 for ThorSport Racing

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SM Staff

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March 21, 2011

ThorSport Racing announced this weekend that 2010 ARCA Series Rookie of the Year Dakoda Armstrong would be driving a third truck for their team.

[media-credit name=”DakodaArmstrong.com” align=”alignright” width=”135″][/media-credit]The 19-year old will drive the team’s No. 98 Entry in a select number of races while competiting for the Sonoco Rookie of the Year award. ThorSport has won the award twice before, in 2007 with Willie Allen and in 2009 with Johnny Sauter.

“Driving for such a strong team with a long history in this series is an unbelievable opportunity for me,” Armstrong said. “I grew up building my own midget cars on our farm, and it was always my dream to make it to NASCAR to drive for an organization like ThorSport Racing. Team owners Duke and Rhonda Thorson have proven that they can put the trucks on the track to race consistently for the win with both veteran drivers and rookie drivers through two prior Rookie of the Year awards. I had the opportunity to be a guest of the teams at Phoenix, and I was so impressed to see how well both the 13 and 88 teams work together to get the best performance out of the weekend. I have so much respect for team manager David Pepper and crew chiefs Bud Haefele (No. 88 team) and Joe Shear, Jr. (No. 13 team); who work tirelessly to put the best quality & equipment out there.”

The New Castle, Indiana native joins Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter, who both are seen as legitimate title contenders this year.

“We’re excited to add Dakoda Armstrong, such a fresh talent and unique ‘voice’ in the agricultural, entrepreneurial and alternative energy world; to our growing NASCAR Camping World Truck Series program in 2011,” Matt LaNeve, vice president of Motorsports Partnerships at ThorSport Racing said. “Dakoda is a very inspirational young driver who has had a lot of success in every series he’s competed in, and he’s part of the next generation of NASCAR drivers.

“Add to the fact that he’s one of many corn growers who are helping to feed and fuel America, it’s a winning combination with the effort of our series to use Sunoco Green E15 fuel. What better than a potential Sunoco Rookie of the Year who helps produce ethanol fuel from home? We think he’s such a compelling NASCAR story.”

Last year in the ARCA Series, he collected two wins, including Talladega Superspeedway. Beyond the ARCA Series, Armstrong has had a lot of success, including the 1998 WKA National Championship; 2000 & 2001 Nascart Championships; 2004 Kenyon Midget Championship in his Rookie Year; 2008 PRI Mopar Midget Classic National; Three USAC Midget races in 2008 & “Hard Charger” in Hooters Pro Cup final year.

Beyond the race track, Armstrong hopes to educate fans about the green energy American farming initiatives.

Armstrong Farms, Dakoda’s family operated farm for four generations, is one of the largest producers in the Midwest of corn used for the production of ethanol. Armstrong Farms provide 700,000 bushels of corn to Cardinal Ethanol and Anderson Ethanol annually. With a single bushel of corn producing 2.8 gallons of ethanol, Armstrong Farms is responsible for approximately 1.9 million gallons of ethanol each year.

“I’m also excited to be able to shed more light on what farmers like my family are doing to help Americans become more energy independent,” Armstrong said. “Our corn is used to produce ethanol, which provides us a renewable fuel that reduces emissions and creates jobs right here at home. That’s a tremendous source of pride for me.”

“As NASCAR uses an ethanol-blended fuel made with corn grown in the U.S., we are thrilled to see a fourth-generation family farmer competing at the top level of our sport,” Dr. Mike Lynch, Managing Director of Green Innovation for NASCAR, said. “We support Dakoda Armstrong’s efforts to tell the story of Sunoco Green E15 — the ultimate high-test fuel contributing to conservation, U.S. jobs, and energy independence.”

Armstrong’s debut race is tentatively scheduled at Iowa Speedway in July. Further details about the program will be made at a later date.