BRISTOL, Tenn. (September 20, 2024) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to the media on Friday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
How do you think back to the Chance 2 era and your relationship with Dale Earnhardt Jr.?
“Yeah, a lot of special memories, and a lot of fun stuff that we got to do together. He was a veteran around here at that point, so I learned a lot of the ropes on how things go from him and tagged along – doing a lot of the things that he got to do. I got to experience a lot of the things I never would have had at that point in my career. A lot of fun. A lot of memories. We got to go to victory lane a bunch, so that was cool. I told him the other night when I saw him that – ‘can you just do one more year of a few Xfinity races, so we can race together one last time?’ – but definitely a ton of good memories. Definitely an amazing start to my career because of him and the team that he built.”
Are you willing to go out of your comfort zone or your ethical zone to advance out of the round tomorrow night?
“I really don’t know. I think it will just kind of depend on the situation – what we find ourselves in and what is going on, but most likely not. I will most likely I will race the same way I always do and hopefully we are good enough to get the job done in that way.”
Do you feel any responsibility as you leave the garage in a full-time capacity to discuss with others on officiating racing and the contact on track?
“I would say I won’t have anything to do with that going forward. I will enjoy watching. I don’t know. It is interesting – just to see how much things have changed over the years. It just has kind of been a gradual shift of these things. I was frustrated and all of that, but I think it is road courses – mostly – turn one after restarts. At a lot of the places, we’ve moved the restart zone back. If it was off turn six, maybe, at Watkins Glen, that would be a good thing. I think overall the race was great, besides from the inability to pass, which is a problem. That is kind of what spurs on those restarts of, alright, I’ve got to get a spot or two here because it is the only chance that I really have – besides a handful of cars that could pass a few guys. But to answer your question, no, I don’t think I will put my hat in the ring on officiating racing or telling people what they should or shouldn’t do.”
How isolating can it be to be a full-time NASCAR driver?
“It is just a big commitment – a lot of things that you miss out on. We don’t get sick days. We can’t be late for things. It is none of that. We can’t take a weekend off of work or day off work to do friends and family things, you know? There is a lot of things that you miss out on, but that is part of the job. That is what you commit to. If you are going to do this, you have to be all in. If you are going to be good at it, you have to be 100 percent committed to it. You just get comfortable in that situation and what it is, and I think the people around you do as well. I wouldn’t say you feel isolated. I would say you just feel that you miss out on lots of things.”
Is it even too late to change your ethical guidelines on how you do things?
“Probably (laughter). I’ve been racing the same way my whole career. You can’t just wake up one day and say that you are going to drive through everyone. It is just not in your DNA.”
What is the process today with the tires?
“We just have been working on it all week, like we normally do – looking at video, data and simulator time. Trying to kind of understand – or guess somewhat – because the hard part about this track is it changes a lot. You never quite know what you are going to get – are we going to race the bottom or are we going to race the top? Are the tires going to wear out like they did in the spring or is it going to be like last fall? There is always a lot of questions when you come here, but I think we have a game plan that we feel like is the right way to approach it for us, and we will just be able to take it one step at a time.”
Are you nervous about tomorrow night?
“It is our last shot. I don’t know. I wouldn’t say nervous, you just kind of want to get it done with – the next 24 hours there is going to be a lot to talk about, a lot to think about and a lot of guess work on how we approach the race. We will just see, but I wouldn’t say that it is nervous. I’ve been doing this long enough, that I just look forward to the opportunity. You just more want to get it over with and see how it all turns out, so hopefully it is good, but the guys are working hard, and I’m hoping that it races like it did in the spring because that worked out well for us, we will just see. Hopefully it goes well.”
Do you have some sense of just being done with it?
“That just usually lasts a few hours, and you get home and you are like okay, everything is okay in the world and we are going to get to work on Bristol, and hopefully we are going to do what we need to do. It is not easy. We are in quite a hole, but I look forward to the opportunity and just hope nothing bad happens.”
About Toyota
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