No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry News and Notes
TRUEX AT KANSAS: Martin Truex Jr. owns two NASCAR Cup Series victories at Kansas Speedway after sweeping the track’s races during his 2017 championship season. Overall, he has racked up nine top-five finishes, 12 top-10s and 803 laps led in 25 career starts at the 1.5-mile tri-oval. The Mayetta, New Jersey native has finished inside the top 10 in seven of the past eight Kansas races dating back to 2017.
TALLADEGA RECAP: The No. 19 team finished 31st at Talladega Superspeedway after a pair of flat right-rear tires in the final 10 laps dropped Truex from a potential top-10 result. Despite starting from the rear of the field, overcoming an early speeding penalty, and being collected in a multi-car accident late in stage two, Truex was running second late in the race before misfortune spoiled the team’s day.
550 RACES: The No. 19 team has finished third, sixth and ninth in the first three races using the 550-horsepower, high downforce aero package this season (excluding Daytona and Talladega). Truex’s 116 points scored in those three races at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway ranks fourth in the series.
LOOP DATA LEADER: Truex has been a standout so far this season according to Loop Data provided by NASCAR. He currently leads all drivers in green flag speed, fastest early in a run, fastest late in a run and speed by segment. Additionally, Truex ranks in the top three in average running position, driver rating, laps in the top 15, percentage of laps run on the lead lap, fastest laps run, and laps led.
AUTO-OWNERS: Auto-Owners Insurance will be featured as the primary sponsor of Truex’s No. 19 Camry for Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway. The Lansing, Michigan-based company offers multiple lines of insurance, including life, home, auto and business to customers in 26 states. 2021 marks Auto-Owners’ third year with Joe Gibbs Racing as they will once again be featured for eight races on the No. 19 Camry.
JGR AT KANSAS: Joe Gibbs Racing has claimed six NASCAR Cup Series victories at Kansas Speedway. In 99 combined starts at the track, the team has tallied 26 top-five finishes, 41 top-10s and 1,298 laps led. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart have all driven JGR entries to victory lane at Kansas.
TUNE IN: Coverage of this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway begins Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry
How important is this weekend’s race knowing you will come back to Kansas in the Round of 8?
“Every race is important, but obviously this is one you really want to run good at to give yourself that bit of confidence when we come back in the Playoffs. A lot will change between now and then, so just because you are good here this time doesn’t guarantee that you will have success in the fall. But definitely running well and continuing to build a notebook for the Playoffs is important and that’s what we want to do everywhere we go.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
