No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD News and Notes
- TRUEX AT DAYTONA: Martin Truex Jr. has posted three top-five finishes and five top-10s at Daytona International Speedway. He was part of the closest finish in Daytona 500 history when he narrowly trailed Denny Hamlin by 0.01 seconds at the checkered flag. Truex is also a former Daytona 500 pole winner after posting the fastest qualifying lap in 2009. His resume also includes a NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at the track in 2005.
- CLASH NOTES: The No. 19 driver finished 15th in the Busch Clash at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on February 6. After starting 23rd, the former Cup Series champion patiently worked his way forward and improved through the race before ultimately finishing 15th.
- 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 in the DAYTONA 500. 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 AT DAYTONA: Joe Gibbs Racing has earned eight NASCAR Cup Series victories, including four in the Daytona 500. Dale Jarrett claimed the team’s first win ever in the 1993 Daytona 500 and Denny Hamlin has won the race three times in the past six seasons. Overall, the company has tallied 36 top-five finishes, 48 top-10s and 1,999 laps led at the 2.5-mile track. In addition to Hamlin and Jarrett’s wins, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, and Tony Stewart have driven JGR entries to victory lane in Daytona.
- TUNE IN: Coverage of the 64th running of the DAYTONA 500 begins Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD
Do you typically start a season with more anticipation or more apprehension and has that changed at all this year?
“I think in general I always look forward to a new year and seeing what you can do – another chance at doing some good things and winning some races, hopefully, and reaching the ultimate goal. I’m always looking forward to it. This year, obviously, there are more question marks than ever, which is a little bit different, but we’ve been in situations like this where a lot of things are changing, and you don’t really know. You just try to prepare the best you can. I obviously have a great team and a lot of good people around me, and I try to take advantage of those people the best that I can and that usually works out. I look forward to it and just being open minded and take them as they come.”
When do you think you will have a read on this car?
“I think it’s going to take a while. Typically, we go through the West Coast swing and Atlanta and Daytona and you have some kind of an idea of where you are or get kind of a good feel on how things are going to be. I think this year is going to be way different – I think it’s going to take a while longer. We’ve never had anything change as much as we have with the car this year. It’s going to take us quite a while to figure out where we are at, to learn about this car, to understand how to make it work on different types of racetracks and I think that’s going to go on for a while. Things are going to change very rapidly through the first half of the year. It’s going to take a while to really feel comfortable where you are or understand things to the extent we have in the past.”
Truex NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Daytona International Speedway
Starts |
Wins |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
Poles |
Laps Led |
Avg. Start |
Avg. Finish |
||||||||
33 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
119 |
17.4 |
22.2 |
Truex 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats
Starts |
Wins |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
Poles |
Laps Led |
Avg. Start |
Avg. Finish |
||||||||
36 |
4 |
13 |
20 |
0 |
865 |
8.4 |
12.0 |
Truex NASCAR Cup Series Career Stats
Starts |
Wins |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
Poles |
Laps Led |
Avg. Start |
Avg. Finish |
||||||||
585 |
31 |
129 |
248 |
19 |
10,721 |
13.8 |
15.3 |
|
JGR PR
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