NASCAR Cup

Indianapolis: Truex Jr - Friday media visit

Martin Truex Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Monte Carlo SS met with media to discuss racing at the Brickyard, being hailed as the new face of DEI, on Mark Martin becoming a teammate, the value of teammates overall, on Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaving DEI, on ...

Published: Jul 28, 2007, 5:40 AM

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Martin Truex Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Monte Carlo SS met with media to discuss racing at the Brickyard, being hailed as the new face of DEI, on Mark Martin becoming a teammate, the value of teammates overall, on Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaving DEI, on expanding to a four-car team, on the impact of losing two practice sessions Friday, on the importance of qualifying and more.

Select quotes from driver interview:

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT RACING HERE AT THE BRICKYARD THIS WEEKEND? "I'm looking forward to it. This is a really fun race track. It is real unique. It's not really like anywhere else we go. Our Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet has been running real good. They put a lot of emphasis on the engines here and we've got some great engines lately. I know we broke one last week, but they've been running real strong. So I'm looking forward to it."

NOW THAT MARK MARTIN IS A TEAMMATE, WHAT CAN YOU LEARN FROM HIM? "I'm real excited about it. I think it's going to add a lot of great things for us. I'm a huge Mark Martin fan. I always have been I like the way he goes about his business. I like the way he races. The amount of knowledge he's got is incredible and I look forward to tapping into that. I've talked to Mark for 20 minutes already today. I've always gotten along with him really well and I'm looking forward to learning things from him in the future. He's going to be a great asset for our whole organization."

WITH DALE EARNHARDT JR. LEAVING AT THE END OF THE SEASON, ARE YOU READY TO BE THE FACE OF DEI? "I'm excited about it. It's going to be a lot of fun, I think. The first thing is we need to run well, obviously. We've been doing that and that's the first step in the right direction. It will be a lot of opportunity for me and my team. They'll have a lot more eyes on them and get a lot more recognition for the great job they're doing. It'll be great for all our sponsors."

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR TEAMMATES TO GET ALONG IN TERMS OF OVERALL BUSINESS? "Its really important. The exchange of information and the more people you can bring together and help information flow throughout the teams helps everyone. It's no secret that the teams with more cars and more drivers seem to be more successful. We've had three and I think having a fourth is going to be even better; especially with having Mark (Martin) on board. He's got so much talent. He's been there and has done everything. He's one of those guys who has been around for a long time but continues to run at the front of the pack no matter where we're at or what he's in. He's going to be a great teammate. But just having guys that you can work with and guys that will work well with the other teams, not just the drivers, goes a long way."

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT DALE EARNHARDT JR. LEAVING DEI? "Well, it stinks, obviously. He's a great friend and has been a great teammate for me; not just this year, but the past couple of years. When I drove his Busch car I learned a lot from him just by being with the same team. But we've got some great stuff going on and I'm real excited about this deal with Mark and his whole team. We're still looking for that fourth driver for next year. So I'm excited about the future. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can learn hear short term from the 01 team and the things they are doing and seeing how much better it can make all of our teams. So it's going to be interesting to see how they do things and how we can incorporate that into all our teams. And it's the same for them. It's just more notes to look at and more information and more knowledge to pull from. It's only going to make all of us better."

-credit: gm racing

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