Ryan Truex On Pole for Heluva Good" Summer 125 from NHMS

Joins father & brother as pole winners at Loudon
By Jason Cunningham, NASCAR

LOUDON, N.H. – NASCAR Camping World Series East rookie Ryan Truex continued his hot streak Thursday afternoon when he won the Coors Light Pole Award in advance of Friday’s Heluva Good! Summer 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Truex (No. 00 NAPA Toyota) earned his first career pole two races ago at South Boston (Va.) Speedway and reached Victory Lane for the first time in the series’ last event at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. On Thursday he kept the momentum going when he posted the fastest lap in qualifying at 30.433 seconds (125.113 mph).

Truex also joined his father and brother in winning NASCAR Camping World Series East pole awards at New Hampshire. Martin Sr. won the pole for the Sept. 1994 event, while current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Martin Jr. won the pole three times (twice in 2000 and in 2003). Both Martin Sr. and Jr. also won NASCAR Camping World Series East races at NHMS.

Ryan Truex, who was the next-to-last car to go out, knocked Eddie MacDonald (No. 71 NEMO/Grimm Construction Chevrolet) off the provisional pole. MacDonald won both of the New Hampshire races in 2008 and posted a fast lap of 30.601 seconds (124.467 mph) during qualifying.

Kevin Swindell was third fastest in qualifying at 30.616 seconds (124.406 mph). Brett Moffitt (30.690/124.106) and Matt DiBenedetto (30.693/124.093) rounded out the top five qualifiers.

Among the top five qualifiers, only MacDonald had previously turned laps at the 1.058-mile track.

Steve Park, Matt Kobyluck, Alan Tardiff, Jody Lavender and Jeff Anton completed the top 10 from Thursday’s qualifying.

The Heluva Good! Summer 125 is slated to go green on Friday, June 26, at 5:10 p.m.

Truex Wins Tioga Downs Casino 125 from the Glen

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 6, 2009) – NASCAR Camping World Series East rookie Ryan Truex passed race leader Patrick Long between Turns 10 and 11 on the last lap and took the checkered flag in the Tioga Downs Casino 125 Saturday at Watkins Glen International.

Truex (No. 00 NAPA Toyota), who was making just his fifth career start in the series for Michael Waltrip Racing, ran in the top three throughout the day and got position on Long (No. 03 AASCO Motorsports Chevrolet) coming out of Turn 10 on the last lap of a green-white-checker finish. Truex held his position as Long went off the course and Truex came out of Turn 11 with a clear vision of the finish line and earned the victory.

Long settled for a fourth-place finish. Matt Kobyluck (No. 40 Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino Chevrolet) finished as the runner-up and rookie Brett Moffitt (No. 44 Castle Packs Power Chevrolet) was third.

Rounding out the top 10 finishers were Matt DiBenedetto, Steve Park, Eddie MacDonald, Alex Kennedy, Brian Wong and Jonathon Smith.

Truex's win marked the fifth different driver in as many races to win in 2009. Truex is the third member of his family to win in the series along with his father, Martin Sr., and his older brother, Martin Jr.

With his third-place effort, Moffitt overtook Jody Lavender for the series points lead. Lavender finished 14th on Saturday.

The sixth race of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Series East season is slated for Friday, June 25 with the Heluva Good! Summer 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H.