The 2013 season was a difficult one for
Martin Truex, Jr.
Driving for Michael Waltrip Racing, Truex won
on the road course at Sonoma and appeared to have qualified for the 2013 Chase for
the NASCAR Sprint Cup, before allegations of race manipulation in the regular-season
finale at Richmond prompted NASCAR to remove him from the title hunt as part of
an organization-wide MWR penalty.
Sponsor NAPA Auto Parts bolted at season’s
end and Truex found himself out of a ride, less than three months before the
start of the 2014 campaign. Fortunately, he was able to find a new position
with Furniture Row Racing, which qualified for the Chase a year ago with Kurt
Busch at the wheel.
Now, Truex is focused firmly on the future,
determined to bounce back from a season he will remember with little fondness.
“Racing is a tough sport,” said Truex to reporters
this week. “There are going to be a lot of ups and downs… and most likely a lot
more downs than ups. This is a tough business and you are racing against
42 guys every weekend. You don’t win 50% of the time (like in other sports). If
you win one percent of the time at this level, it’s pretty damn good.
It’s difficult and it takes a toll on your mentality. You have to be
strong-willed, know what you stand for and know why you are doing what you are
doing.
“Last year was tough for me, he said, “but I
feel like we moved on from it pretty quick and things are still going pretty
good for me. I am obviously very appreciative of this opportunity (With
FRR) and very fortunate that I was able to land in the great position I am in
right now. Honestly, I am blessed to be here and looking forward to the
opportunity.
“Going to a new team is always something that you’re
nervous about,” he admitted. “But then, as you start to know the team, do some
testing (and) go through all the things getting prepared for the new season, it
starts to become really exciting. There’s a lot of anticipation… looking
forward to the start of the season and trying to see where you stack up, what
kind of things you’re going to need to work on to get better at and all that.
It’s been a really good experience so far.”
Truex made a number of trips to Colorado
during the offseason and was “really impressed with the things they have, the
stuff they’re doing and the things they are working on. Some of the stuff they
did last year was really impressive. (I’m) looking forward to hopefully taking
that team to the next level, going to Victory Lane and going back to the Chase
again.”
In fact, the Long Island native said the
timing was perfect for him to join a new team.
“If you ever had to pick a time to switch
teams, you would want to do it when there were big rules changes, so you start
off on an even playing field with everyone. We’re going to have to learn a lot
of things about this race car with the new setups with the ride height changes
and things, (and it’s) definitely a good time to be starting with a new group.
“It’s obviously a single car team, but they
have the RCR (technical alliance) and that teammate mentality,” he said. “If we
are off or struggling with (something), we can go to them for help. It’s
got the benefits of a single car team, where we can move fast and make changes
quick, build our own parts and not have to wait to get them finished to put on
the car. But at the same time, if we get out in left field, we have that
catch fence to help us with RCR.
“There are benefits to being a single-car
deal, and we will just have to see how it goes. It is going to be
different for me because I have not been in a situation like this before, so
it’s going to be interesting and it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s
going to be a new challenge and I always look forward to those.”
Truex revealed that
there have been no major challenges in his transition to FRR, just “a lot of the little things.
“How do you like your seat? How do you like
your shifter? How do you like your brake pedal to feel? What kind of steering
box do you like at certain tracks? There are so many little things that you
take for granted when you are with the same team for four or five years. You go
through those things the first year, then forget all about them.
“You forget that other teams do things
differently,” he said. “Going through all those little things that I like a
certain way has probably been the biggest challenge. I’m sure there’s going to
be other things that come up along the way that we’re going to have to figure
out together. It takes a little bit of time to figure it all out
Truex said it won’t take long to determine
where he and Furniture Row Racing stand, compared to the competition this
season.
“I think by California, you really get a feel
for where you stand,” he said. “We go to Vegas, which is a mile and a half, but
it’s very bumpy. It’s a little bit different (and) it’s got newer asphalt. Then
we go to California, which is an old, worn-out type of asphalt. (It’s a) really
slick race track where you need a lot of downforce. We go to Bristol – a short
track with high banks -- and a superspeedway here at Daytona. So there’s a good
mix of tracks.
“I think pretty early in the season, we’ll
kind of know the things that we’re going to need to work on. It doesn’t take
long.”
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