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NASCAR CUP SERIES: SUPER START BATTERIES 400 presented by O'REILLY AUTO PARTS

July 23, 2020

Martin Truex, Jr.

Kansas City, Kansas

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by our thirdâ€‘place finisher, Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No.19 Toyota with Joe Gibbs Racing.
We'll go straight to questions.

Q. It certainly seems like the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas are faster on intermediate tracks across the board. What is it you have found?
MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Just executing really. I mean, I feel like we've been fast all year long honestly on the bigger tracks. For us on the 19 car, we got off track there a little bit, tried a few things along the way. With no practicing, no qualifying, if you try a few things, you get off a little bit, you're off all weekend until you can come back.
Honestly just for us on the 19, we kind of went back to more stuff like we did last year. I think also the guys in the shop are working really hard to make cars faster, bring us better pieces.
Yeah, it's been good. The last couple weeks we've been really strong. It's been promising. Hopefully we'll start to get some wins soon.

Q. We've seen the last couple weeks PJ1 has been heavily applied. Tonight you didn't have it at all. We saw some of the better racing we've seen all season. Do you think it's time to reevaluate the application of PJ1 and how much it is used on different tracks?
MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Yeah, I mean, I think it's worth talking about, looking at. I always say Kansas is a track that really doesn't need it. It has multiple grooves, you can run all over it.
That being said, I mean, it's difficult. Texas and Kentucky both were places that are predominantly bottom lane racetracks. I'm not sure any other lanes would have been really super competitive at those two tracks without the PJ1.
With that being said, you spray PJ1 in lane two, everybody runs lane two. I don't know that it really opens up a whole lot of options. It makes the tracks faster. It makes tires a little bit more critical I think for Goodyear because the speeds are up, the loads are up.
Aside from that, it's really hard to say because it's still a oneâ€‘groove racetrack, PJ1 or no PJ1.

Q. When you look at tonight's race, when you moved over from daytime to nighttime, how much did this race change for you?
MARTIN TRUEX JR.: It definitely changed the car some. I think the biggest thing was it helped some guys that maybe weren't quite as good early on in the race when the track was hotter, slicker. I think it helped them fire off on restarts better.
Those guys that decided to put two tires on a few times there, they were able to fire off on the restart, get far enough out front that it took a while for guys to catch them. I think it changed that for sure.
We were really strong all day. It seemed like as it started getting into the nighttime, it took us a little longer to get going on runs. If guys could beat us out of the pits on two tires or whatever, it would take us a long time to pass them. That was the biggest thing I noticed, was just being off a little bit on the short run later on just because guys were getting us on track position.

Q. Did your teammate remind you of you in '17? What's clicking with him so well?
MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Yeah, I mean, they're obviously doing a good job, executing well, doing all the little things right. I think for us, we need to win some races. Sometimes racing can be cruel. They're just hot right now. Today his car was better. Whoever wins wins.
Those guys are on fire right now. They're doing a great job, fast everywhere. They're not making any mistakes.
THE MODERATOR: Martin, thanks for joining us tonight. Congratulations on your race. Enjoy a couple extra days off.
MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Thank you. See you guys.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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