Late-Race Demolition Derby Spoils Top-10 Finish for Truex at Talladega


Martin Truex Jr. gets a push from teammate Juan Pablo Montoya during
Sunday's AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
TALLADEGA, Ala. (Nov. 2, 2009) - Martin Truex Jr. spent the majority of
his Sunday afternoon like much of the field, waiting.  The driver and his
team jockeyed for position amongst fellow competitors for much of Sunday
afternoon's event at Talladega Superspeedway.  That jockeying and a
perfect strategy, played right into Truex's hands late in the race.
However, as the field took the green with just two laps remaining, Truex
would find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time for the first time
during the three-hour event.  Truex would fall victim to a late-race crash
involving multiple cars, eventually finishing the race in the 31st
position.





Truex and the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops team unloaded their car for Friday's
practice full of confidence as this was the same car that they used to win
the Daytona 500 Pole Award, and post a third-place qualifying effort for
the previous race at Talladega in April.  The team decided to utilize the
first practice as an opportunity to gather information and to draft with
teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. Happy with the results, Crew Chief Kevin
"Bono" Manion elected to sit the second practice out.  However, Mother
Nature decided to mix things up a little bit by bringing rain to the
Talladega area for much of the night Friday evening and most of Saturday
morning.  This forced NASCAR to cancel qualifying for the AMP Energy 500.
The field would be set by the 2009 Point's standings.  Truex and team
would roll off in the 23rd position for Sunday afternoon's event.





As the 188 lap event began, Truex quickly showed the strength of his
machine as he placed it in the 11th position by lap four, up 12 positions
from his starting spot of 23rd.   By lap 34, Truex has maneuvered his No.
1 Bass Pro Shops Chevy inside the Top 10 to the ninth position.  Crew
Chief Kevin "Bono" Manion called for a green flag pit stop on lap 41
changing four tires and topping off with fuel.  However, as Truex exited
pit road, NASCAR would alert the team on the radio that they were the
victims of a speeding penalty as Truex was too fast on his entry onto pit
road. Truex would serve a pass through penalty and by lap 44 he was shown
in the 39th position, one lap down.    Luckily for Truex and team, the
caution flag would fly on lap 50 and the team would be able to take
advantage of NASCAR's "drive around" rule, allowing the team to gain their
lap back by not pitting under caution.  This would however, change the
team's strategy for the remainder of the 500-mile event.





Truex and the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops team would work their way back through
the ever-changing field at the Superspeedway.  The team found themselves
in the 8th position when the caution flag flew on lap 137.  Crew Chief
Kevin "Bono" Manion would call for two right-side tires and fuel, helping
the team to gain one position on pit road.  The team would take the green
flag on lap 143 in the seventh position.  Looking to be a little short on
fuel, Truex and team would try to conserve for the remaining 45 laps.
However, the caution flag flew on lap 184, running low on fuel Crew Chief
Kevin "Bono" Manion would call the No. 1 Bass Pro Chevy down pit road on
lap 185 for two tires and fuel.  Luck would start to fall the way of the
No. 1 Bass Pro Team, as many of the leaders started running out of gas and
falling down pit road as the field came to the green flag on lap 188.
Because of this, Truex found himself inside the Top10 with just two laps
to go.  Coming to the white flag on lap 189, Truex was positioned to make
a surge towards the front as cars started sliding and crashing everywhere,
including Truex who slid helplessly through the front-stretch grass.  The
car, damaged to a point where it couldn't be driven, would fall from a
solid Top-10 finish to a 31st-place finish in just seconds as the rest of
the field came back around to take the checkered flag under caution.





The 31st-place finish dropped Truex one spot to 24th in the NASCAR Sprint
Cup point's standings.  Teammate Juan Pablo Montoya's finish of 19th
helped moved him up one spot to fourth in his inaugural Chase for the
Sprint Cup, jumping two-time series champion Tony Stewart.  Montoya is now
the only driver inside the Top Five in points not associated with Hendrick
Motorsports.  The No. 1 Bass Pro Shops team will head to Texas Motor
Speedway for the Dickies 500 on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009.  The race will air
live on the ABC television network beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.  Radio
coverage starts at 2:30 p.m. ET on PRN.