Martin Truex Jr. will test today at the newly repaved Michigan International Speedway, and the Stafford Township native says he expects the 2-mile, D-shaped oval to be extremely fast.
“It’s kind of interesting that we go to two racetracks in a row that are repaves (including Pocono Raceway last week) because it’s totally different with a test day at them,” Truex said in quotes provided Tuesday by his team, Michael Waltrip Racing. “Certainly the speeds we are hearing about the repave are pretty fast especially coming out of the straightaways.
"It’s carrying the mail for sure for a stock car.”
Truex didn’t fare too well last week at Pocono, as Landon Cassill’s car spun into him on the first lap of the race and contributed to a 20th-place finish.
He hopes Michigan goes better.
“I am sure it might be a little hairy out there the first couple of laps,” he said. “I can’t imagine what qualifying is going to be like. It’s going to be impressive, that’s for sure, with everything being taped up. I am going to bet that to get the pole, you will have to drive wide-open. It’s going to be wild and an exciting race for us to drive and for fans to watch.”
Truex’s crew chief, Chad Johnston, said the team learned from past experiences.
“Looking at the last two repaves, Phoenix and Pocono, we may see the same situation at Michigan,” Johnston said in quotes provided by MWR. “At Phoenix and Pocono, they started out loose. But as the weekend went on, they tightened up. Obviously, the more we run on the track at Michigan, the more we will learn about the surface and how it will change throughout the weekend.
“We’ll adjust accordingly. I know it will be fast. It was fast before.”
