NASCAR CUP SERIES: CRAYON 301

July 17, 2023

Martin Truex Jr.

Frontstretch Quotes

An Interview with:

Q. After three third-place finishes here at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. is finally winner here in New Hampshire. This one will be celebrated by the entire Truex family. Martin, is there a win you wanted more than this one?

MARTIN TRUEX JR: I don't think so. What we've been able to do here over the years is pretty remarkable, and to not win was really getting frustrating.

James and I talked about it many times. We thought about it all weekend, talked about it with Christopher before the race. He's like, man, you've led more laps here than I've even raced in Cup.

Just really an awesome job by everybody. What a race car we had today. Just proud of the whole team. Pit stops were flawless. Race car was unbelievable.

We had some challenges at times throughout the race and it was a handful at times, but we just kept our heads down, kept digging. Thanks to everybody at racers, Bass Pro, Auto Owners, Toyota TRD, everybody back at the shop, JGR, all our fans, Oakley, FlightSafety, just all the people that help us.

This is feeling really, really good to do what we did today and finally cap it off with a lobster.

Q. Do you remember being an eight year old and sitting in those stands watching your dad race at this place? How much significance does that add to this for the Truex family?

MARTIN TRUEX JR: It's a lot. That's a big part of it. I sat in Turn 1 with my mom. My little brother was drinking out of a bottle, so it was -- we were young, 12, 13, maybe 14, whatever.

But this is the first big track I ever came to with my dad and watched and the first time I ever seen Cup cars in person and Busch cars in person. It's been a special place for us.

Being able to win K&N, being able to win the Busch Series, this one has been eluding me for a long, long time, so I'm just really, really happy, really thankful, and I can't say enough about my team, man. They're incredible. I'm lucky I get to drive these things.

Q. What were you thinking on those final few restarts? Cautions kept coming out and you had it in hand.

MARTIN TRUEX JR: Stop wrecking, everybody just stop wrecking. Yeah, luckily we were able to hold them off. The car was just so fast. I don't know, I don't even know what to say. I'm speechless. Been after this one a long time. This one is sweet.