Ryan Truex Gresham Motorsports Park Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 00 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Ryan Truex continues his chase for the K&N Pro Series East championship Saturday at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga. The 18-year-old Mayetta, N.J. native has three races left to achieve his back-to-back championship quest as well as garner his second title for Michael Waltrip Racing.

Truex is the son of race car driver Martin Truex Sr. and the younger brother of Martin Truex Jr. who drives the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Truex tested his East Series car with crew chief Mike Greci at Gresham on Aug. 19.

QUOTES

Truex on racing at Gresham Motorsports Park: "Gresham is a fast track. I really like running there a lot. This will be my first time actually racing there, and I’m confident that my NAPA team can go there and do well. It’s a track that I feel comfortable on. I’ve heard a lot of guys compare it to Bristol, but with less banking so I’ll have to stay on my toes. I think our main strategy will be to make sure the car rotates in the center, and to qualify well for the track position. I’m definitely looking forward to getting on the track Saturday.”

Truex on his chase for the East Series Championship: "We are just trying to take this one race at a time right now. The championship is our long term goal, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We have Gresham to focus on this weekend and two more races after that. Greci and I have both just been focusing on one race at a time and I think that has worked out well for us.”

Truex on testing at Gresham: “Our test went really well. Greci and my guys put a great car together for this track. We unloaded and were immediately fast, that’s always a fun way to start a testing session. We worked making minor changes and picked up time towards the end of the test. I think this was a great confidence boost for my whole team and really got us all excited to go back and race on Saturday night.”

Greci on working with Ryan at Gresham: “He did an exceptional job at the test on Thursday. We were fast when we unloaded off of the trailer and he continued to get better as we continued. He really likes the track and is comfortable there. I think that all of the testing he has done in the Cup cars there has been a huge help to him.”

Notes

Veteran Mike Greci, who once served as Martin Truex Jr.’s crew chief, has been working with Truex throughout his career in the East Series beginning in 2008.

Truex is the first driver to earn a championship for Michael Waltrip Racing when he won the K&N Pro Series East Championship in 2009. He leads the 2010 standings by 33 points over Darrell Wallace Jr. with three races left in the championship.

Truex is the third member of his family to win in the K&N Pro Series East. His father, Martin Truex Sr. won at New Hampshire in 1994 and his brother Martin Truex Jr. won five times.

Ryan Truex Michigan Report

Ryan Truex Race Summary: No. 00 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Ryan Truex qualified second and raced in the top 10 most of the race before finishing 12th in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Michigan International Speedway. The 18-year-old Michael Waltrip Racing driver ran in the top three the first 40 laps of the race outrunning Sprint Cup stars like Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. A tight handling condition in the second half of the race prevented Truex from maintaining his pace, but he never ventured far outside the top 10. Truex makes his third Nationwide appearance at Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 10.




• Truex qualified second in just his second NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

• Truex ran second for the first 45 laps of the race.

• Remained in the top ten through the first 100 laps as he battled a tight handling condition.

• Brother Martin Truex Jr. sat on Ryan’s pit box and gave advice over the team radio throughout the race.

• Saturday’s race marked Truex’s second of six scheduled 2010 Nationwide races.

• Truex’s next Nationwide appearance is at Richmond on Sept. 10.



RYAN TRUEX: “It was a lot of fun. We had a good car. We were running with the 22 (Brad Keselowski) there at the beginning. We made a pit stop and with this car being new and us never running it before we weren’t sure about adjustments. We made an adjustment and it just didn’t agree with the car. We learned for next time. At the end there we got it better and we were running up there. I had a lot of fun and have to thank NAPA and Tow Truck in a Box for helping me out this weekend and this team for giving me a good car. I think me and Trevor (Bayne) finished right in front of each other. It was a fun day and a lot of fun racing. I learned a lot for next time.”



How much did your brother help you this weekend? “He taught me pretty much everything I used in the race. He’s been a lot of help and he was talking to me during the race and telling me what to do. He’s definitely been a big help. It’s been a fun weekend and I’m just happy we got out of here in one piece.”



Did you have any nervous moments in the race? “That last restart when that car blew up in front of me, I thought that race was over. I was dead sideways and I thought I was plowing into the wall. Somehow got through it, but that cost us a couple spots. It is what it is and I had a lot of fun. Happy to have the car in one piece and have a decent run.”



RACE NOTES:

• Brad Keselowski won his fourth race of the season.

• Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch rounded out the top three.

• There were two cautions for nine laps.

• The 1 hour and 39 minute race saw 11 lead changes among seven drivers.

• NASCAR estimated 40,000 attended the race.

Ryan Truex Michigan International Speedway Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 00 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Ryan Truex makes his second NASCAR Nationwide Series start Saturday at Michigan International Speedway— the biggest and fastest track ever faced by the 18-year-old Mayetta, N.J. native.

In his Nationwide Series debut in St. Louis he started 19th and raced his way into the top 10 by lap 100 before a late-race accident left him with a 28th-place finish. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver competes fulltime in the K&N Pro Series East where he is the defending champion and 2010 points leader.

Truex is the son of race car driver Martin Truex Sr. and the younger brother of Martin Truex Jr. who drives the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. With the new car racing at MIS this weekend, the Nationwide series plans a day-long test session Thursday with practice Friday followed by qualifying and the race on Saturday.

QUOTES


Truex on racing at Michigan International Speedway: "Michigan is a wide, fast racetrack and will be the biggest track I’ve ever raced on. I want to go there and gain experience on a bigger track. I’ve been leaning on my brother a lot for advice and he said that it’s wide, very fast and with the higher speeds aerodynamics start to really come into play. I have a lot to learn on that side of things and I feel like having the extra day of testing on Thursday will be a huge benefit to us. This way I can get plenty of experience with the new car and how being around different cars affects my own car. I can learn what the cars do when you pull up on another car and all of those new experiences that come with running at a bigger track."

Truex on his first race with the new car: "I think they look awesome and it’s cool how they represent the street cars better. I have heard they are a lot of fun to drive and hopefully we can have a good run with it this weekend."

Truex on expectations for his second Nationwide Series race: “I feel like as a team we can go out and run good. (Diamond-Waltrip driver) Trevor (Bayne) has been running great and that just gives me more confidence in the racecars and how good of a job everyone at MWR is doing. I think with this race being the first race at an intermediate track with the new car we have more of a level playing field with the other teams. It’s just a matter of going into the weekend with confidence and learning as much as I can. Hopefully we have a great weekend with our NAPA Toyota.”


Martin Truex Jr. on Ryan’s Debut: “He did a great job and I was really proud of him. He’s good at staying pretty calm on and off the track. He did good with it. It all worked out good in the end. He ran a really good race—all but the last 20 laps—and I think he learned a lot. He earned a lot of respect from the drivers and had a good first outing.”


NOTES

Veteran Mike Greci, who once served as Martin Truex’s crew chief, will serve as Ryan Truex’s crew chief this weekend in Michigan.

Martin Truex Sr. competed in 15 Nationwide Series races 1989-1998. His best career finish of 12th came at Nazareth Speedway in 1994. He won an East Series race at New Hampshire in 1994. Martin Jr. is a two-time

Ryan is the first driver to earn a championship for Michael Waltrip Racing when he won the K&N Pro Series East Championship in 2009. He leads the 2010 standings by 33 points over Darrell Wallace Jr.

Truex is leading the East Series championship by 33 points over Darrell Wallace Jr. with three races left in the 2010 season.

Ryan Truex Lee USA Race Report

Ryan Truex, No. 00 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry - finished second – leads in points.


LEE, N.H. - No. 00 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota driver Ryan Truex raced through the field to finish second Friday night in the K&N Pro Series East race at Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire. The 18-year-old started 16th and moved into the top five in the first 50 laps then battled for the lead on lap 90 of the 125-lap race. A late-race caution bunched the field with three laps remaining. Truex led on the restart before he and Darrell Wallace Jr. made contact racing for the victory. Wallace crossed the start/finish line a few feet ahead of Truex who finished second. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver continues to lead the East championship by 33 points. The series returns to action Aug. 28 at Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia.



RYAN TRUEX, NAPA Auto Parts Toyota

• Truex led laps 100-102 and 115-122 of the 125 lap race.

• He earned the Coca-Cola Move of the Race Award.

• The margin of victory between Truex and the No. 6 of Darrell Wallace Jr. was only .175 seconds.

• Darrell Wallace Jr. won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series 125, his 2nd victory of the season.

• The fastest qualifier was Kevin Swindell at 15.562 seconds.

• This is Truex’s sixth top-five finish this season.

• The race was slowed by seven yellow flag periods totaling 38 laps.

• Truex is the third member of his family to win in the K&N Pro Series East. His father, Martin Truex Sr. won at New Hampshire in 1994 and his brother Martin Truex Jr. won five times.

• The 18-year-old is the first driver to earn a championship for Michael Waltrip Racing when he won the K&N Pro Series East Championship in 2009.

• •There are only three races left in the 2010 East Series Championship.

• Truex will resume his NASCAR Nationwide schedule August 14 in Michigan.

CREW CHIEF MIKE GRECI QUOTES:

“We didn’t qualify where we needed to be. We were 16th, but we stayed positive. We were third fastest in the final practice and we just needed our driver to stay confident for the race. We started in the back and worked our way through the field. Around lap-50 we were already in the top-five and Ryan was battling for the lead at lap 90. They battled hard back and forth for the next 25-30 laps. Then at the final restart with three to go the No. 6 went low and they were three wide. It was just hard racing; unfortunately that’s who we are battling for the lead. We finished second and it was a good battle for the team.”