Martin Truex Jr.

Martin Truex Jr. battled an ill-handling racecar for most of Saturday’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400, but still managed a respectable 15th-place finish.

“Yeah, we really struggled with the car this weekend,” Truex said. “We just couldn’t get rid of the tightness in the center of the turns. Bono (crew chief Kevin Manion) and the guys threw everything they had at it during the race and it finally got a little better. Plus, the pit crew was ‘on it’ all night and that helped us gain some spots on pit road.

“The positive thing is that we didn’t have a great car tonight but we still finished 15th. That just shows how far this team has come. We fought all night long and I’m proud of the team for not giving up.

“Being in the Chase means a lot to us. We'll have a lot to look forward to the next 10 weeks so we're real excited, real happy for everybody at Bass Pro Shops and Tracker Boats and Chevrolet, just everybody that's been part of the deal all year. My guys have done an awesome job. I'm real proud of them. It's just a shame Junior isn't going to be in it with us. We could really use his help but those guys had a little too much bad luck but hopefully we can hold up the banner for DEI and give them a run for their money.

“I love the two tracks we're starting out at (Loudon and Dover) but there are a lot of other ones in there I like too so I think the only place we haven't really run well at that we're going to in the Chase is Martinsville and we need to figure that place out. If we can do that we'll have a great shot at this."

Truex is seeded seventh out of the 12 drivers making the Chase.