Gold Line: Martin Truex Jr., '13 Napa' Camry

The 2013 season was the beginning of the end for Michael Waltrip Racing. After a racing fixing scandal, major partners like Napa began to end their support for the top tier Toyota team. Napa Auto Parts and Martin Truex Jr. had enjoyed a three year partnership that began when the future Hall of Fame driver joined the race team in 2010. He received a full season of sponsorship from Napa in 2013, and managed just one win at Sonoma. For a closer look at the 2013, number 56 MWR Toyota Camry, read on...

---

The real thing: Martin Truex Jr. shows the way early in the race at Loudon in September of 2013. He would lead for 89 laps, but lost momentum later in the day. (Photograph courtesy of Getty Images, USA Today). 

---

---

Notes:
The 2013 season featured the rollout of a brand new regulation stock car for the Nascar Cup series. Now referred to as the Gen 6 car, the Toyota Camry featured about three different body styles during its tenure. This version was one of three different castings that Lionel developed that year including a Ford Fusion, and the Chevy SS. This allowed the company to represent each of the three major OEMs in their 1/64 line of collectable race cars. MTJ had a full year of sponsorship from Napa in 2013, but still raced a few variations. The Napa Gold filters, and Napa Patriotic liveries were also produced. This standard paint scheme is a Nascar classic and utilizes a simple design with bold primary colors. The car also features the silver rims that all MWR cars wore during Nascar sanctioned events that season. This is a great little model that will now fetch upwards of $40 on the secondhand market. 

---

Sources:
-Jayski.com
-Lionelracing.com
-Nascar.com
-Racing-reference.info
-USAToday.com