● Six to Go: After a strong third-place finish last weekend at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Truex sits 14th in the driver standings with 2,104 points heading to this weekend’s race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
● In his 39 career Cup Series outings at Talladega, Truex has three top-five finishes, nine top-10s, and he’s led a total of 111 laps. His average Talladega finish is 21.0.
● Looking for 35: Truex’s July 2023 win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon was his most recent Cup Series win, the 34th of his career, tying him with 2004 champion Kurt Busch for 25th on the all-time Cup Series win list.
● Ahead at this Stage: Truex has accumulated 64 stage wins since the beginning of the stage era in 2017. He is the only driver with 10 or more stage sweeps, with his latest sweep coming at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn in August 2023. Truex scored his fourth stage win of the season three weeks ago at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, leading the field across the line at the end of Stage 1.
Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE
You are aiming to get your first Talladega win. What do you work on leading into Talladega that you might not do other weeks?
“Talladega is a lot different than normal weeks. It’s a lot of strategy and a lot of talk with my teammates and trying to plan to work together to get to the end of that thing. It seems like every time we go back there it’s a little bit different. It’s changed a lot over the years and a lot in the past few. It’s been quite a bit different racing there with this car. Still trying to figure out how to get that first win at Talladega. We’ve been close there before and ran really strong there last year with our Bass Pro Shops Camry, so just looking to build on that and focus on what it’s going to take to try and get our first win there.”
A Talladega win would be your first on a superspeedway-style track – Daytona and Atlanta being the others on the current schedule. Is a superspeedway win something you would really like to have on your resume?
“I would like to, it’s something we put a lot of work and effort into. I would say it’s probably not my best style of racing. We just need to put it all together and make the right moves. For us, I think that we are always damaged, so if we can ever get to the end of one of those races and are at the front, we would have a chance. If we get that chance again, we need to be able to figure out how to make the right moves. Would love to be there at the end at Talladega this weekend and have a shot to win with our Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE.”
After running five superspeedway-style races so far this season with the current package, what are your expectations for Talladega this weekend?
“I think it will be similar to the others now that we have a better idea of what we’ve seen so far. This car, for whatever reason, just likes to be two-wide, there never seems to be a third lane. There’s a lot of two-wide and a lot of track position – hard to make your way up through the field. You never know, though, it all depends on what everyone is wanting to do. How aggressive does everyone want to be, and will we have a chance at a third lane forming? I don’t know.”
Has superspeedway racing changed in recent years?
“I think superspeedways probably haven’t changed much as opposed to some of the other types of tracks. Just the way you can bump draft with this car is totally different than the previous-generation cars. I think right now there are a lot more options as far as what lanes work. It used to be that you never wanted anyone on the outside, and now you can pass guys on the bottom a bit easier and that sets up some other opportunities. I feel like the racing has been fun on superspeedways, but you have to be really aggressive, as well.”
Talladega has made some renovations in recent years to its fan amenities. How have you seen the track change in recent years?
“It’s cool because it’s a good fan experience at Talladega and that’s what it’s really all about, giving the fans something to do throughout the weekend when we are not racing. It’s a really cool setup for the fans. It’s cool that the fans can get up close to the cars now more than ever and they can check out what is going on. Always have a lot of great fan energy when we go to Talladega, for sure.”
● Event: YellaWood 500 (Round 31 of 36)
● Time/Date: 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 6
● Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
● Layout: 2.66-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 188 laps/500 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 60 laps / Stage 2: 60 laps / Final Stage: 68 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
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