NASCAR CUP SERIES: FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400 SALUTE TO FIRST RESPONDERS

September 11, 2021

Martin Truex

Frontstretch TV Interview

An Interview with:

Q. With the stars and stripes on his car, 20th anniversary of 9/11, Martin says, This one means a lot. How about in front of these Richmond fans to win on the 20th anniversary, a big time for the team, as well, Martin?

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Yeah, it's a big day. It's an important day in our history. I think all of us here -- yeah, we're proud to win, and this car is amazing and there's so many people to thank, but what a day to win on. It reminds you of the honor and the privilege it is to get to come out here and do this.

All these great fans that come out here, we couldn't do any of these kind of things without the men and women that take care of us and all the first responders, police officers, firefighters, the military, you name it. NASCAR is very patriotic and we're very proud, and Johnny Morris is very patriotic; that's why this thing is red, white and blue. So very proud of everybody to be able to do this today.

Q. How much of the finish of this night, finishing with the win, was about the start of this night and making up for that when you had to come down pit road right off the start?

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: That was frustrating; I'm not going to lie. But I knew we'd have a good enough car to overcome it. It felt pretty good the first couple laps.

Just one of those things; you've got to put it out of your mind and you've got to go race, and we knew there was a lot on the line tonight. Very happy to get to do this and go to Bristol without any worries next week is always fun.

Q. The JGR drivers pick good times to win; it's been since May at Darlington, a long time for the 19 team.

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Yeah, it's been a while. We talked last week about how much speed we've had in these things, and just thanks to all my guys and everybody at JGR, Toyota, TRD, Bass Pro, Auto Owners, Reser's Fine Foods, Oakley, Textron, everybody that helps us. We couldn't do it without them. Very lucky to get to do this, as I mentioned, and very proud to win here tonight.