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Martin Truex Jr, a former NASCAR Cup Series champion, is optimistic that Toyota will benefit from technical advancements made to the vehicles in 2023. This is after "lacking in some areas" the previous season.
Following crashes in 2022 that left two playoff-eligible drivers with concussions, NASCAR made a number of technical changes to its Next Gen car for 2023. The emphasis is on modifications to the rear and center clips for safety reasons. Both sections were modified to better absorb rear impacts.
Martin Truex Jr believes Toyota has improved from the previous year when Christopher Bell was the only one of its drivers to reach the Playoffs after taking the Clash in Los Angeles. Truex Jr believes that the new changes might be beneficial for his team.
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"I think from the Toyota side of things that we were lacking in some areas last year. NASCAR changed some rules and I feel like we are all closer together now. I think that’s going to be a plus for us because we were lacking a lot at the short tracks and road courses, to be specific."
He then added:
“A lot of good things for us on paper, but you’ve got to see what happens on the track. Last year, I felt comfortable in the car in just a few weeks, and then it was all about how we apply it, and we have a great team that works hard on figuring all of that out.”
Martin Truex Jr, one of the seven NASCAR drivers to leave the championship trophy
Only seven of the 33 full-time drivers competing in this year's Cup Series have won titles. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr, and Joey Logano have won in their careers.
The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is driven by Martin Truex Jr, the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion. At Richmond Raceway, he won for the first time as a member of the team in 2019, and again there in 2021.
He has won 31 Cup Series races in his career, winning the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum to open the 2023 campaign. Previously, Truex Jr raced for Furniture Row Racing, where he won 17 races throughout his five years with the team, including the Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500.
In addition, Truex has won 13 races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series during the course of his career (2004–2005). In 2021, on the dirt track at Bristol Motor Speedway, he took first place in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event.
