Martin Truex kicks off chase in Kansas City

To help kick off the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR driver Martin Truex Jr. visited Kansas City today and took time to meet with members of the Kansas Army National Guard and also recognize series sponsor, Sprint, for their efforts behind the “Heroes for Hire” program. It was especially meaningful today for Truex, who is a New Jersey native.

“It’s been great meeting with these military men and women today,” said Truex. “I’m so appreciative of what they do every day for us and how they allow us to go out and race cars for a living and the sacrifices they make.”

The Guardsmen and women, Sprint employees and local fans were excited to see Truex, who finished second at Kansas Speedway in April, and wanted to know his thoughts on everything from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, to the Kansas Speedway reconfiguration, to who the up and coming drivers are, to Twitter.

On the Chase: “I really felt like this was our year and hopefully over the next 10 weeks we can go out and take advantage of the hard work we put in this winter. These final 10 races are going to be a huge challenge. Any of the 12 drivers could get hot at any time. Look at Tony (Stewart) last year – he won five races and won the championship.”

On Kansas Speedway: “Our cars have been good at all kinds of tracks this year, including repaves. We were good at Kansas before they repaved it. I have so much confidence in my team right now, that I’m not concerned about the repave. I feel like we can go anywhere and run well. I’m excited to go back to Kansas and see the changes. I know they added banking to make the high side better and it should be a lot of fun.”

Kansas Speedway PR