Meet Martin Truex Jr.
by Lisa Mathis
DOB: 6/29/1980 - That makes him a Cancer
Vital Stats: Ht 5'11" Wt 180
Marital Status: Single
Hometown: Mayetta, NJ
Residence: Mooresville, NC
Parents: Martin and Linda Truex
Siblings: Marcia and Ryan
Car: #81 Chevy Monte Carlo
Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops, and Long John Silver/Taco Bell/Kentucky Fried Chicken
Owner: Chance 2 Motorsports - Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Teresa Earnhardt
Personal Hero: his dad.
Hobbies: Fishing, Hunting, four-wheeling, snowboarding and Sims Racing on the Computer
Favorites:
Band: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Sports Teams: Philadelphia Eagles, 76'ers, Flyers and Phillies
Food: Seafood!
Vacation spot: Islamorada, FL (it's in the keys, and a great deep sea fishing spot!)
Personal Vehicle: 2002 Chevrolet Z-71 Truck
If he weren't racing, he'd be working for the family business, Seawatch. (You may have seen him drive the "Seawatch" #56 car in past Busch races.)
So, where did Martin come from? Well, he has a wealth of racing history under his belt, going back to the age of 11 when he started building his own go-carts. When he was 18, he moved to modifieds, and within a couple of years, he was winning races in the Busch North Series. His Father was a Busch North series driver, and gave up his seat to his son back in 2000. Martin didn't wait long to secure that first victory, winning at NHIS, Loudon, NH, in 2000, his first season in the North circuit. He knows his way around that track, as he has posted one victory, 2 runner-up finishes, 4 top-10 and 2 poles in 5 starts there.
In the Busch North series, in 2002, he had a series-high of 6 poles, setting 3 different track records. He earned six top-5 and eleven top-10 finishes in 23 races. He finished 11th in the points. He continued to drive in 2003 for his dad's owned team, winning two races, running a limited schedule.
He made his Busch series debut in May of 2002, qualifying 13th in the Yellow #1 Chevy, sitting in for Jimmy Spencer. He set his goals to qualify well, and race competitively. He did well, as he finished 27th, noting the differences between the Busch North cars, mostly tires and horsepower. He ended up qualifying for a total of 4 events that season in the Busch Series, posting his best finish of 17th in his own backyard, Dover. He did more than that; he received the attention of the people at DEI.
He made his debut for Chance 2 in the Busch series in 2003. Sporting a white #81, with a black and orange Chance 2 on the hood, he raced in the Hardees 250 in the Richmond Spring race. While practicing, he matched the times that his mentor and friend, Dale Jr., posted while qualifying for the Funai 250 in the "Gossamer" themed car the previous year. Interesting to note, that was the same winning chassis that Dale Jr drove to victory lane the year before, that Martin was driving now.
He was a top contender that night, putting his name in the leader position, and running in the top-10 for most of the night, until mechanical problems put him out of the race. He posted a top-10 finish at Bristol, and followed that with two consecutive 2nd place finishes in Rockingham and Homestead, to prove his worthiness of a full time Busch ride for 2004.
Dale Jr. says that Martin is a "quiet, soft spoken guy who has a good mind. He's got obvious talent, and he's proved he can do the job."
You can believe that. Martin will be a strong championship contender in 2004 in the Busch series. He cannot be a Rookie of the Year contender, as he has run more than the limit of 7 races, however, I look for him to be a Nextel Cup ROTY contender, in the near future. After all, what better mentor could you ask for?
Update, Martin won the 2004 Busch championship with six wins ; he beat out Kyle Bush by around 200 pts. Martin also won the 2005 Busch championship and in addition he also finished second in points in the IROC series. He ran several cup races in 2005 for Bass Pro Shops and is running full time in the Nextel Cup in 2006 also for Bass Pro Shops in the #1 car as well as run in the Iroc series again as the Busch champion.
Update 11: Martin is again running well in 2006 with earnings of 3,832,050. He also won the final IROC race of the year. Update 111 Martin had one win in 2007 and made the chase. On a personal note, he's bought a home on Lake Norman.
