Ryan Truex - New Hampshire Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Ryan Truex hopes to add to his K&N Pro Series East points lead on Friday in the New England 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This race marks the halfway point in the series’ ten-race schedule. Truex, the 2009 series champion, is just eight points ahead of Darrell Wallace Jr. after taking over the lead at Martinsville Speedway on June. 6. Truex raced from the 32nd to second when rain shortened the race to just 175 laps. The 18-year-old Michael Waltrip Racing Development driver will also run six NASCAR Nationwide Series races in 2010 beginning at Gateway International Raceway on July 17.


QUOTES

ON NEW HAMPSHIRE: “This week we’re going to New Hampshire, and I’m really excited about that. We ran there last year and ran really well, we should have had a win or two. We raced there two times and I think we are going to run good. Hopefully we can be up front and try to defend our points lead.”

ON BEING CLOSE TO HOME: “It’s a pretty special track to me. It’s close to home, and my brother and my dad have both won their first races there. I almost got it last year, so hopefully we can go there this year and get the win. I’m really excited to be there. It’s just a fun track – I like everything about it. My brother has taught me a lot about it and my dad has too, so I’m excited to go back.”

ON RACE STRATEGY: “New Hampshire, unlike most tracks, we have to pit for tires and gas because it’s a longer race. The strategy is a little different there. You want to try to get your tires and gas early so you can get back your track position before everyone else pits. It’s hard to say what exactly you are going to do, you just have to play it by ear as the race goes on. You don’t want to go too early to get tires and end up shuffled back when everyone else gets new tires, but then you don’t want to pit too late and end up having bad track position. It’s pretty tough. We did pretty good at that last year and stayed up front. I’m confident that we can do it again this year.”


ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST



• Truex along with Martin Truex Jr. and Sr. will hold a media availability at the New Hampshire Speedway media center at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.



• The 18-year-old driver is first in K&N Pro Series East standings, with 631 points. He leads second place, Darrell Wallace Jr., by eight points.



• The Mayetta, N.J. native is the first driver to earn a championship for Michael Waltrip Racing.



• Truex earned the first series championship title for Toyota in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East last year.



• Truex is the third member of his family to compete in the K&N Pro Series East. His father, Martin Truex Sr., and his brother Martin Truex Jr. also competed in the series.



• Truex will make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut on July 17 at Gateway International Raceway. He will also race at Michigan, Richmond, Kansas, Charlotte and Homestead.

Ryan Truex - Martinsville Post Race Report

Ryan Truex, No. 00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota Camry - finished second - now first in points.


Ryan Truex Race Summary: Ryan Truex qualified fourth for the UNOH Performance 200. Due to a pre-race NASCAR penalty he was forced to start from the rear of the 32-car field. The Michael Waltrip Racing development driver, was passing cars from lap one as he steadily moved his way through the field, and by lap 68 Truex was running in the top-15. The 18-year-old managed to avoid the bumping and banging that led to 11 caution periods and took over the lead on lap 130. However, that was not the end of the caution laps. On lap 161 Truex was leading the competitors out of a caution period. Upon taking the green flag NASCAR officials ruled that the No. 20 car of Brett Moffitt had beaten Truex to the line, so Truex was scored in the second position. Rain began to fall soon after and the race was ruled official on lap 175. Truex finished second and regained the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East points lead.


KNPS Racing Results

The 2009 defending champion, Ryan Truex, now leads the series points after his second-place finish at Martinsville Speedway.

Brett Moffitt won the UNOH Performance 200 at Martinsville Speedway.

Ryan Gifford won the Coors Light Pole Award on Saturday.

The race featured six lead changes among five drivers.

The race was slowed by eleven cautions for a total of 55 laps.



RYAN TRUEX, No. 00 Armed Forces Foundation Toyota

Truex started 32 and finished second

Truex qualified in the fourth position

Led 28 laps throughout the event including 23 laps of the final 38 lap run

Came home second after ending the event under caution for rain



TRUEX QUOTE: “It was a little disappointing being so close to a win, but we’re good in points now. We had a good weekend, qualified fourth and unfortunately I missed driver introductions - that wasn’t very good. We had to start from the back and had our work cut out for us, but I just took my time, was patient and made my way to the front. We had a good strategy. My crew chief, Mike Greci, was smart. We pitted before anyone else for gas and tires so when they pitted we got the track position and that is huge at Martinsville. It was a good weekend, I’m proud of the guys. They did a great job. We’re in the lead now so hopefully we can just keep on finishing in the top-3”.


UNOH Performance 200 FINAL RESULTS (Unofficial)



FIN DRIVER

1 Brett Moffitt

2 Ryan Truex

3 Darrell Wallace, Jr. *

4 Matt Kobyluck

5 Andrew Ranger

6 Jason Patison

7 Beto Monteiro

8 Matt Frahm

9 Cole Whitt

10 Jeff Anton

11 Kevin Swindell

12 Ryan Gifford

13 Jake Crum

14 Sergio Pena

15 Zach Germain

16 D.J. Shaw

17 Mas Gresham

18 Mackena Bell

19 Ryan Duff

20 Brandon Haley

21 Jody Lavender

22 Ty Dillion

23 John Salemi

24 Scott Bouley

25 Alan Tardiff

26 Andrew Smith

27 Eddie MacDonald

28 Josh Richards

29 Miguel Paludo

30 Steve Park

31 Guy Pavageau

32 Todd Peck



CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS (Unofficial)






RANK DRIVER POINTS

Ryan Truex 631

Darrell Wallace Jr. 623

Cole Whitt 585

Max Gresham 581

Ryan Gifford 572

Brett Moffitt 571

Matt Kobyluck 560

D.J. Shaw 546

Ty Dillon 515

Jason Patison 495

Jeff Anton 495

Eddie MacDonald 493

Kevin Swindell * 458

Sergio Pena * 445

Zach Germain * 431

Ryan Duff 412

Mackena Bell 409

Mackena Bell * 400

Jody Lavender 376

Andrew Smith 370

John Salemi 339

Drew Brannon 327

Miguel Paludo 264

Andrew Ranger 262

Derek Ramstrom 256

Ryan Truex - Martinsville Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Michael Waltrip Racing developmental driver Ryan Truex races at Martinsville Speedway this weekend in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East UNOH Performance 200.
The race marks the 18-year-old’s debut at the historic flat, mile oval. The defending series champion finished 14th in the season-opening race at Greenville-Pickens, third at South Boston and fifth at Iowa speedways. He’s now second in points just 13 points out of the lead. The younger brother of MWR Sprint cup driver Martin Truex Jr., will race in six Nationwide Series races in 2010 beginning July 17 at Gateway International Raceway. He’ll also race at Michigan, Richmond, Kansas, Charlotte and Homestead-Miami.

QUOTES


ON DEFENDING THE SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP: “I’m up to second in points now. Hopefully we can have a good run and get up to first. We just need to keep the car out of the fence. It’s a tough track. Everyone uses their bumpers and the side of their cars there to try and drive by you so hopefully we can run up front and avoid a lot of that.”

ON RACE STRATEGY: “It’s 200 laps, you get two tires and you can come in whenever you want. I don’t really know how we’re going to do it. You can come in halfway and get gas and tires or you can come in later and get just gas and not tires. Track position is a big deal there. You want to be up front, you don’t want to get funneled to the back because then you have to work through and there are always wrecks there. We don’t want to end up with a torn up racecar so strategy is going to be a big deal. We’ll have our work cut out for us, but I’m pretty confident my guys can figure it out.”

ON MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY: ““I’ve never actually been to Martinsville, so I’m excited. It has a lot of history. Hopefully we can get a grandfather clock. That’s a really big deal. We’ve done well at every track we went to last year that was new. I think we’ll be alright, I know we can be up there contending for the win.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• The 18-year-old driver is second in K&N Pro Series East standings, with 456 points. He trails leader Max Gresham by a mere 13 points.

• The Mayetta, N.J. native is the first driver to earn a championship for Michael Waltrip Racing.

• Truex recently participated in Michael Waltrip Racing’s Fan Appreciation Day on May 26, 2010 where he signed autographs for 200 fans at the MWR shop.

• Truex is the third member of his family to compete in the K&N Pro Series East. His father, Martin Truex Sr., and his brother Martin Truex Jr. also competed in the series.

• Truex will make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut on July 17 at Gateway International Raceway.

Ryan Truex Iowa Race Report

Ryan Truex, No. 00 Michael Waltrip Racing Armed Forces Foundation Toyota Camry - finished sixth - now second in points.


Ryan Truex Race Summary: Ryan Truex was solid all day in Iowa in the K&N Pro Series’ version of an All-Star Race where the top East Series drivers square off against the best West Series drivers. Truex qualified third and fought his way to the lead early. Truex and crew chief Mike Greci fought a loose condition all day, but remained in the top five most of the event. Despite the car’s handling, Truex came home sixth when the flag fell on a green-white-checkered finish. The solid points day places Truex firmly in second in East Series standings, just 14 behind leader and Iowa winner Max Gresham.


KNPS Race Results

• Max Gresham won the Goodyear Dealers of Iowa 200

• This is his second consecutive win this season

• This is his first appearance at Iowa

• Gresham edged Ty Dillon (second) by a fender at the line, Darrell Wallace Jr., Corey LaJoie and pole sitter David Mayhew rounded out the top five.

• The race featured nine lead changes among seven drivers.

• The race was slowed by seven cautions for a total of 50 laps.

Ryan Truex, No. 00 Armed Forces Foundation Toyota

• Truex started third and finished sixth

• Led six laps midway through the event

• Ran inside the top five for the majority of the race

• Came home sixth after a green-white-checkered finish

Truex Quotes: “Our car was great during that first run, but something changed after we pitted. I’m not sure if we got a bad set of tires or what, but our car was just too loose the rest of the race. I’ve got to thank everyone on my team though. Once again they gave me fast car. It was a good points day for us, so we’ll take that and get ready for Martinsville.”

Ryan Truex Iowa Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Michael Waltrip Racing developmental driver Ryan Truex heads to Iowa Speedway this weekend for the fourth annual NASCAR K&N Pro Series East-West combination race. This event marks the only race in which competitors from the East and West series go head-to-head with championship points on the line. This year’s race is the third race of the season for both series.


After starting the season with a 14th-place finish at Greenville, defending K&N Pro Series East Champion Truex bounced back to finish third at South Boston moving him to fourth in points. The three East-West combination races at Iowa have produced three different race winners. Truex hopes to be the fourth this weekend in the Goodyear Dealers of Iowa 200.


QUOTES


ON HAVING SUCH A LONG BREAK BETWEEN EVENTS: “I hate it, to be honest. We had back-to-back events in April and I just started to feel like the team and I were getting into a groove. Plus, we had a strong run at South Boston (finished third) so I definitely didn’t want to take a break.”

ON THE RACE BEING A COMBINATION EVENT: “It definitely elevates the competition level. There are a lot of good racers in the West division. We don’t get to compete against them much so this gives us a chance to see where we stack up against those guys.”

ON IOWA SPEEDWAY: “I love racing there. Last year was my first year there and I got a feel for the place pretty quickly. It’s definitely one of the nicer tracks on the circuit. It’s fast and wide so you’ve got plenty of room to pass which makes it exciting for the fans.


ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• Last year Truex qualified third but finished 33rd after an mid-race incident. Truex then reeled off seven consecutive top-three finishes winning the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship.

• This weekend Truex will run an Armed Forces Foundation (AFF) paint scheme on his No. 00 Toyota Camry. In addition to the custom paint scheme fans are encouraged to text ‘AFF’ to 50555 and contribute $10 that will support our country’s military and their families. The text campaign will run through the end of 2010.

• Truex is the third member of his family to compete in the K&N Pro Series East. His father, Martin Truex Sr., and his brother Martin Truex Jr. also competed in the series.

• Truex will make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut on July 17 at Gateway International Raceway.

• The 18-year-old driver is fourth in K&N Pro Series East standings, with 296 points. He trails leader Cole Whitt by 49 points.

• The Mayetta, N.J., native will sign autographs 6-8 p.m. on May 26 at the Michael Waltrip Racing Fan Appreciation Event. The event will be held at Michael Waltrip Racing at exit 28 on I-77 in Cornelius, N.C.

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. – Michael Waltrip Racing development driver Ryan Truex finished third in Saturday’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East event at South Boston Speedway. It was a strong rebound for Truex and his No. 00 Toyota team after finishing 14th in the season-opener at Greenville (S.C.) Speedway a week earlier.


“Our car was really strong from the moment we unloaded it,” said Truex, the 2009 K&N Pro Series East champion. “This team just seems to be able to bounce back whenever we have trouble. This is not even the strongest car in our stable and we still finished third with it. That just shows you how good this team is.”

Truex qualified fifth for the event and never ran outside the top five. The closing laps featured a spirited battle between Truex, second-place finisher Cole Whitt and race winner Max Gresham. Unfortunately, Truex couldn’t advance his position and settled for third.

"It was just tough racing - short-track racing, beating and banging and doing everything you can to get to the front," said Truex. "I was kind of banking on maybe the 84 (Whitt) and the 18 (Gresham) would get in a little trouble there racing side-by-side, maybe I'd be able to slip under them. But they did a great job. It was a fun race."

The solid finish moved Truex up to fourth in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series standings, 49 markers behind Whitt.

The next event on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East calendar is May 23 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. It is a combination event with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.

Ryan Truex, No. 00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota, K&N Pro Series South Boston Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — After leading 127 laps and dominating most of the race, Ryan Truex didn’t like his 15th-place finish in Saturday night’s K&N Pro Series East race at Greenville Pickens Speedway. But history shows a slow start is only a minor detour in his bid to repeat as series champion.

Last season, Truex began his rookie campaign with a 14th-place finish at the South Carolina track then went on to capture three victories and Michael Waltrip Racing’s first championship. The 18-year-old plans to begin his 2010 comeback Saturday afternoon at the fourth-tenths mile South Boston Speedway in Virginia where the younger brother of Martin Truex Jr. is the defending polesitter.

QUOTES

ON GETTING HIS SEASON BACK ON TRACK: “It’s too early to panic but the season is only 10 races long, so you definitely don’t want to have two bad races in a row. We had a really strong car last week. If my guys can give me another strong Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota for Saturday, we should be fine.”

ON SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY: “South Boston is really the place we turned our season around last year. We struggled at the beginning of the season. Then we came to South Boston and won the pole and finished third. It was a great weekend for us and we built on that momentum.”

ON DEFENDING HIS K&N SERIES TITLE: “It’s definitely different this year. Last year, no one knew who I was. Now that I’m the champion, everyone’s gunning for us. You really have to be on your game each weekend. There are a bunch of rookies in the series this year and they all want to prove that they can race with you. ”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• Last weekend at Greenville Pickens Speedway Truex started the race second and grabbed the lead on lap three. He led a race-high 127 laps before being involved in an incident on the final restart to cross the finish line 15th.

• Truex won three races and the series championship in 2009, but did not lead the most laps in any race. His first career Wix Lap Leader Award came last weekend at Greenville Pickens Speedway.

• South Boston Speedway was the site of the Mayetta, N.J., natives first career K&N Pro Series East pole. His success at South Boston last year started a string of seven-straight top-three finishes.

• Truex is the third member of his family to compete in the K&N Pro Series East. His father, Martin Truex Sr., and his brother Martin Truex Jr. also competed in the series.

• Saturday’s event marks the fourth consecutive year that South Boston Speedway has hosted a K&N Pro Series East event. The track opened in 1953.

• Truex is expected to compete in five Nationwide Series races in 2010.