Martin Truex Jr. ­– No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD Preview – Busch Light Clash at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD News and Notes

  • TRUEX CLASH STATS: While Sunday will be the first time the Clash is held at a venue other than Daytona International Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. does have 10 career starts in the annual exhibition race. He has posted one top-five finish, two top-10s and 46 laps led in those 10 starts. In last season’s Clash on the Daytona Road Course, Truex rocketed from the back to the front twice before an accident while leading left him with a 21st-place finish.
  • SHORT TRACK SUCCESS: Truex has won six short track races since moving to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2019. His trio of wins at both Martinsville Speedway and Richmond Raceway are easily the best in the Cup Series over that time. For his career, he has 19 top-five finishes, 33 top-10s and 2,508 laps led in 94 short track races.
  • 2021 SEASON RECAP: Truex continued to prove his place as a perineal title contender last season on the strength of four wins, 13 top-five finishes and 20 top-10s. He advanced to the Championship 4 for the fifth time since the format’s inception in 2014 and led 72 laps in the season finale before ultimately finishing second in the final standings.
  • NEW CAR CHIEF: Chris Jones moves into the car chief role for the No. 19 team. Last season, Jones served as a mechanic on JGR’s No. 20 team. Prior to that, Jones spent time as a mechanic on the No. 18 team, including Kyle Busch’s 2015 and 2019 championship campaigns.
  • NEXT GEN TESTING: Truex participated in two offseason tests with the Next Gen car. The Mayetta, New Jersey native spent two days behind the wheel at Charlotte Motor Speedway on December 15 and 17 and most recently tested the Next Gen car at Phoenix Raceway on January 25 and 26.
  • BASS PRO SHOPS: A longtime supporter of Truex and NASCAR, Bass Pro Shops will be featured as the primary sponsor of the No. 19 Camry TRD for Sunday’s Busch Light Clash at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri. Today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations and more.
  • JGR CLASH STATS: Joe Gibbs Racing has claimed 10 Busch Clash victories. While all the team’s previous Clash victories came at Daytona International Speedway, JGR drivers have kickstarted the year by winning the exhibition race in five of the past eight seasons. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, Matt Kenseth, and Tony Stewart have accounted for the team’s Clash victories.
  • TUNE IN: Coverage of the Busch Light Clash at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum begins Sunday at 6 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

 

Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD

What are you expecting out of this race in Los Angeles?

“I’m really not sure. Thinking about it, I’m not sure I’ve raced a stock car on a track this small, and obviously we’ve never raced the Next Gen car, so it’s going to be interesting. The cool thing is it’s going to be a lot of fun to do something fun and there is a lot of excitement around it as well. I think everybody is anxious to get out there, get on track and see what we can do and hopefully it turns into a fun event for the drivers. I’ll enjoy it, and usually when I enjoy it, we run well. I’m excited about it, and it should be good.”

JGR PR