Dover Post-Race Press Conference

Sunday's win was the fourth for Truex, Jr. this season and his second in the Chase

Sarah Crabill/NASCAR via Getty Images

THE MODERATOR: We are going to continue with our post-race media availabilities for today's Citizen Soldier 400 here at Dover International Speedway. We are joined by the crew chief Cole Pearn and Furniture Row Racing general manager Joe Garone with the No. 78 Furniture Row Denver Mattress Toyota which won today's race, the second in the Round of 16 here at the Chase and fourth of the season for this team.

Cole, why don't you start off and just talk a little bit about it and the momentum going into the Round of 12.

COLE PEARN: Yeah, I mean, this was kind of a bonus win really. We didn't need it at all, but you're never going to turn them down. We had a really good car today. I think the 48 was equally as good as us, and we were going to definitely have to battle them the rest of the race, and we were fortunate they had a penalty, and we didn't have any issues and we didn't make any mistakes, and no cautions. It really wasn't too difficult of a strategy at that point. Just, again, happy to get another win, and at the end of the day, it all resets next week and none of this really matters.

THE MODERATOR: Joe, why don't you talk a little bit about what this means for Furniture Row Racing as you head into the Round of 12 with the No. 1 seed.

JOE GARONE: Well, it's amazing. Just as Cole said, it's about momentum and trying to get to the last race. You obviously have to keep knocking down fences, and today was definitely a big step, and carrying off into another mile-and-a-half with this kind of momentum, it's just really positive. Really good for the company, for Furniture Row, and Denver Mattress and Barney Visser, our owner, who again is not here to celebrate with us, but a lot of hard work has gone into this from a lot of people.

At any race, you've got to have this momentum to continue from round to round. We're blessed to have gotten this win.

Q. Cole, obviously it wasn't a given that you guys had this in a bag or anything with — Jimmie looked strong at one point there until those guys had their issues, but when you're in the latter stages of the race and you're leading by 12 seconds, any thoughts whatsoever of backing off just a little bit and not stinking up the show so NASCAR doesn't take a closer look than they might otherwise?

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"] COLE PEARN: I don't know. You're going to have to stroke it pretty hard to get back 10 seconds, the lead we had. You've just got to keep going. Really the biggest thing we were concerned about was where the 48 was because we knew if he was able to get the Lucky Dog or get back on the lead lap, that's who we were going to be racing. They really drew our focused, and we kind of focused on what they were doing and kind of called the race off their decisions.

Definitely I know in the grand scheme it looked like we kind of walked the dog there a bit, but at the end of the day, caution comes, 48 is back on the lead lap, you've got to decide whether you're going to pit or not. A lot of things can happen at that point. We tried to keep them a lap down. I was trying not to say hell there, so anyways…

Q. Cole, I talked to Carl after the race, and you guys are supposed to be in the same equipment. He's like, I really want to know what they're doing to get a 12-second lead on the field. What is it about you guys that can take that equipment and go out there and dominate like you did?

COLE PEARN: I don't know. I don't think it's any one thing for sure. We've got a strong team, and we didn't make it to Homestead last year for no reason. I really feel like we're in better equipment this year.

We just really had a flawless day. We're hitting on all cylinders right now. Every track we go to, even the tracks we haven't been good in the past, we've been pretty good at. I mean, and Dover for that matter has been a strong suit for us the last three years. Even in 2014 when we were struggling we ran good here. We really feel like we've got a good handle on this place.

We were good, but that 48 was just as good. I mean, at the end of the day, when you come to Dover you're going to have to beat Jimmie Johnson, and luckily it didn't come down to that being that close.

Q. Cole, does winning at Dover mean anything as far as how it relates to other tracks left on the schedule, and is there any fear that maybe you all have peaked too early?

COLE PEARN: I don't know. I mean, you're not going to say no. I mean, maybe we have, I don't know. I still feel like we've been good all year, so I don't really know how you can say we've peaked too early. At the end of the day, this was kind of an icing-on-the-cake win. We didn't need it per se, but you're not going to turn it down. Martin has had a lot of wins taken away from him in his career, so to be able to make up for lost time in a way is good. You've just got to keep it rolling. We didn't do anything extravagant today. We brought a good car, we made solid pit stops, we never made any mistakes, and we won, so you're not going to knock that strategy at all.

Q. Cole, you guys weren't that good at Charlotte earlier this year. I just wondered if you were hoping maybe you'd do something a little different this time. Actually how much change do you anticipate from when you ran there in May until next week?

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"] COLE PEARN: I mean, you can never be complacent. We had a good car here at Dover in the first race and we were different than we were then. Charlotte is another example, you can't get complacent and hold onto fond memories from the past or whatever. You've got to go and execute and work really hard this week. We've got a tough week coming up for our team. We've got a tight turnaround going to Charlotte. We've got to test Martinsville Tuesday and Wednesday, so I mean, it's a really tight week, and we're nervous about that.

But at the end of the day, it's definitely a track where we have good comfort with. I think we know what we need to do, it's just a matter of executing it and having it all go together over 500 miles.

THE MODERATOR: We're going to wrap up our post-race media availabilities for today's Citizen Soldier 400 here at Dover International Speedway. We are joined by our race winner, Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Denver Mattress Toyota. This is your second win in the Round of 16 for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, fourth of the season, and also this was the 15th win for Toyota, which is the most in a season for the manufacturer. What do you think of all that?

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Well, that's all unbelievable. What an awesome weekend for us. I mean, I talked about it in here the other day, that this track has always been special to me. It's always been near the top of my list. I love this place. I've had a lot of heartbreaks since my first win here back in '07. I've had a lot of heartbreaks. I've led a lot of laps. I've been in position to win multiple times, and it never seemed to work out for multiple reasons.

Today I'm just thankful to have a great team, to have been able to lead lap 400 and get back to victory lane at a track that's so special to me.

Q. You won here in '07, didn't win again until '13. Did you think at some point in your career you were just going to be the kind of journeyman driver who just didn't contend for wins —

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Hell no. No.

Q. Was it as simple as changing from FF to Furniture Row? That changed it all around? Could this have happened anywhere else?

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"] MARTIN TRUEX JR.: You know, honestly, you just never quit. I mean, I knew I always had enough good runs and enough kind of flashes of excitement or success that it always kept me motivated. It always kept me pushing.

I mean, aside from 2014, I think that my first year at Furniture Row was tough, but I think every other year, I always had something I could look at and say, hey, look, look at this, this is what we're capable of when we put everything together and all the stars align. I'm able to show what I'm capable of.

I've always had enough throughout my career to kind of lean on those times where I thought maybe it wasn't going the way I needed it to go, where I didn't have the things I needed to have to compete with some of these guys. Just continue to drive and push and never give up. Lucky enough to get with a great race team. It started out rough for us, but we continued to work, and we all worked in the same direction and believed in each other.

I mean, it's just continued to get better and better over time. I don't know what to say other than I never gave up, never said I don't think I'll ever win again or think I'll have a chance to win again. I just always knew I could do it.

Q. You met with Joe Girardi earlier in the week. Did he give you any advice, and also, do you kind of feel like the Yankees of the late 1990s?

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Honestly, I mean, we just talked and shared stories. He was such an impressive guy and had such a good outlook on life in general. We actually talked a lot about our charities and our foundations and what we do. You know, just such a special man, played baseball, loves the game, puts everything he has into coaching.

You know, I'll be honest, I'm not a Yankees fan, but I am a little bit now because I met him. Just a special man who didn't know me from anyone and brought me in, Sherry and I both, and we sat in his press conference with him, and he just shared his passion for helping people with us. He does a lot for people. Every day he wears a different tee-shirt during his press conference for a charity that he's working with or somebody he's trying to help get the word out for something they're fighting for, and it happened to be when we went it was ovarian cancer because he lost his mom to that, and that was kind of a connection we had there.

You know, I don't remember much about the 1990 Yankees to compare us to, but I'm sure it's good to be able to compare us to them.

Q. Could you just talk about the last couple weeks? You had the one win in the Chase, you were in position to win last week, and now you've got this win. Just the momentum, what is it with you guys at this time of the year where it's just clicking for you?

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: That's just it, I mean, it's just clicking. I don't know. Honestly, I feel like all season long we've been the same team, and we've done the same things. You know, I guess right now it's just our time. You know, throughout the summer, we led so many laps and had so many great race cars and so many great weekends that would just — things would happen. Sometimes it was just rotten luck, sometimes it was mistakes or just circumstances that didn't play out. But I think that the biggest thing is we just kept our heads in the game. We stayed focused on the things that truly matter, and when all that bad luck went away, here we are. I mean, it's just been amazing. We've got a great team. I've got a lot of people to thank obviously. It starts at the top with Barney Visser, our owner, giving us the things we need, our friends at TRD and Toyota and all of our sponsors and partners that have made this season a success. It's just things are clicking right now. We've got confidence, we've got momentum, and we're just rolling with it and taking it one week at a time, and hopefully we can continue this for seven more weeks.

Q. I'm guessing — obviously you're enjoying all this, and this is a heck of a ride, but is there a part of you that is — I don't want to say worried, or do you have to look at the other side and think, boy, we've been on top for so long, how do I stay on top or how do we keep this train going for seven more weeks with the competition coming up?

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"] MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Yeah, I mean, I think that's a fair question. It's a good question. But like I said, we have done this all year long. I mean, you look at this team and what we've done, aside from bad luck, I can't tell you how many races we could have won this year. You've seen the same thing.

I think that we've just got to go out there each week and try to be as prepared as we can. We're not going to change who we are. We didn't do that before the Chase started. We just got hot and we got momentum, and hopefully we don't lose it. I mean, I don't know how we got it, I don't know how to keep it, I just know that I think we're going to continue to approach these races the same way, and hopefully it works out for us.

Q. No one expects you to give up a win or anything like that, you've got a 12-second lead, but did you at any point feel sorry for the rest of the field that you were kicking their butt out there?

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: No, not at all. No, no mercy rule. You know, honestly I did not expect the race to go green to be honest with you. I thought, we've got 50 to go and we were getting ready to pit, and I'm like, there is no way. We've been green for so long, I just didn't see it coming. I was holding my breath. I was trying to take care of my equipment, make sure I didn't cause a caution. That would have been really dumb. And just trying to take care of it and make sure we got to the end. Lo and behold, the caution never came, so it worked out good for us.

Q. Obviously you guys showed last year that you were a team capable of contending for a championship. But in the off-season, you did change manufacturers, you did begin a new alliance with the Joe Gibbs organization, and here we are three races into the Chase, you have two of the wins. You've got some of their guys saying, I wonder what he's got over there. Did you ever expect that it would be this smooth? Obviously I don't know if people realize that sometimes that can be a very daunting change for an organization, and to continue as well as you have and even be better is probably a little bit surprising.

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Yeah, I mean, I thought it would take longer for sure. I think Barney did, as well. I think the team beat the expectations of the owner, which is something you don't normally see. So I think it's just a credit to all of our people, you know, all the guys at TRD, at Toyota that help us, that helped us put all this together and helped us build fast race cars and make sure we had all the things we needed. It really is a credit to the people.

I mean, that was a huge undertaking this winter to switch manufacturers and start over with all new chassis and components. It's just, I mean, everything about our program changes over the winter, and for our guys to jump on top of it like they did and be as prepared as they were just says how good they are and speaks volumes about their abilities.

For me, it wasn't a big deal. I mean, our cars were fast right out of the gate, and we had some things that we had to work through, a lot of things were different, but at the same time they were all working well for us right off the bat, and it's just been fine-tuning and finding the things that I'm looking for and the feel that I like and incorporating that into what we have. It's amazing how quickly it all came together.

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