Truex has improvements in EGR's 'newer' Chevrolets

A month ago, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Aric Almirola were together in the Texas Motor Speedway garage area, doing their best to tune their respective Chevrolets.

Friday at Richmond International Raceway, Truex was tuning his No. 1 EGR Impala for a fourth-place qualifying run for Saturday night's Crown Royal 400 while Almirola wandered the infield trying to find some way to get back into a race car.

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Truex had his black Chevrolet stylishly at or near the top of both Sprint Cup Series practice reports. EGR's lead driver was quickest in the first 90-minute session, a scant hundredth of a second better than Ryan Newman's Stewart-Haas Chevrolet. In the second practice, Truex led at halfway before ending up seventh behind the most recent Richmond race winner, Jimmie Johnson.

After Happy Hour, Truex raved about the actuality of him and his EGR teammate, Juan Montoya, finally having at least a version of a "common car." Prior to going out west to Phoenix, EGR tested a car at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida that had a front clip developed by Ganassi Racing and a firewall-back chassis from Dale Earnhardt Inc.

According to Truex, the results were stunning, and the proof came in his season-best seventh-place finish at Phoenix.

"I went out in [Montoya's] car and I loved it," Truex said. "So we put their front end on ours and went out to Phoenix and man, right off the truck we were second-quick and had a great day. We didn't qualify good [26th] but we had a great race."

At Texas, Truex had spoken well of a season's worth of great communication with both of his teammates, but at the same time said that if they had even slightly different chassis, something was getting lost in the translation. No more.

"It's their front clip and our tail section, but all of the front-end geometry is the same, and that's the important stuff," Truex said. "All the rest of it is just to bolt stuff onto, at least that's what I feel."

And that's what's got Truex excited about Richmond, where he finished fifth in this event a year ago after qualifying third. Getting the fourth starting spot in qualifying Friday evening didn't hurt his optimism.

"It's the same car we had at Phoenix," Truex said. "We learned a lot there and we've fine-tuned it and have been working on it a little more and I feel like we're even better here, with the same car. I feel pretty good about it."

Most of that comes from speaking the same language.

"We definitely feel like we've made some gains, we're on the same page and we're working really well together as a team," Truex said. "It's working well, and we're in the same situation [at Richmond]. Honestly, it's been even better than I expected.

"Me and Juan have been working so well together, it's unbelievable. Last week at Talladega -- I've had some really good teammates at [restrictor] plate tracks, like Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. -- and I honestly think me and Juan worked more together last week in one race than I've ever worked with a teammate the whole year.

"It just seemed like every time I turned around I was behind him pushing him or he was behind me pushing me. It seemed like we were out there to help each other and we really wanted to. Brian [Pattie, Montoya's crew chief] and Bono [Manion, Truex's crew chief] are really clicking and they've been good friends for a long time and they're really into working with each other -- they've been feeding each other ideas and supporting each other. We need to get some finishes put together so we can get some points, because we're not looking so hot there. But our car last weekend was excellent. It was just incredible how good it was, but we got in the wrong place and got wrecked. That's just Talladega."

But as thrilled as he is for his team's outlook, as they struggle to get back into the top 20 in the standings on their way to what they hope would be their second Chase berth in the last three years, he's heartbroken over the fate of his young teammate, Almirola.

Almirola had a decidedly more low-key presence in RIR's infield Friday, slinking around almost like a fugitive from Death Row -- rideless for the third consecutive race weekend after his No. 8 Chevrolet team was parked for lack of sponsorship.

Truex said Almirola still participates in team activities as much as he can as he plumbs every possible option for getting the funding to get his car back on track.

"I did talk to him this morning, and it's terrible," Truex said. "He's a helluva driver and he's got a great future ahead of him if he can just get the right opportunity. He couldn't have come into the position he's in at a worse time -- even big teams are struggling and sponsors are cutting back.

"I feel bad for him because he's a good driver and he can do the job, we just need to get him in a car. I couldn't imagine being in his shoes. I get nervous all the time about the situations I get in and I've never had one that's been like that, starting out the year and just knowing if they didn't get sponsorship they were going to fold up, and then having that happen.

"I don't know how he sleeps at night, and I feel bad for him. But he appears to be handling it good, and he's doing all he can. He puts a lot of effort into his racing because he really wants to be here and I think he deserves it. He's at the track and he's beating on doors, showing people how much he wants to do this and I think that's important."