Fast Facts: Martin Truex Jr.

Credit: Debbie Ross/Skirts & Scuffs

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 56 NAPA Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing, is competing in his second Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2012. Find out more about this second-generation New Jersey-born driver in this week’s Fast Facts.

• Martin Lee Truex Jr. was born June 29, 1980 in Trenton, NJ and grew up in Stafford Township. His father was a former race winner in the Busch Grand National North Series (now the K&N Pro Series East) who also owned a seafood business in Mayetta, NJ.
• He started racing go-karts at age 11 then progressed to modifieds at age 18 at the famed Wall Stadium Speedway (NJ). In 2000, Truex Jr. moved up to the Busch North Series, winning five races in four seasons with his family-owned team. In 2003, he was approached by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who at the time jointly operated Chance 2 Motorsports with Dale Earnhardt Inc. Truex Jr. competed in ten Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) races that season – six for Chance 2/DEI, three for the family team and one for Stanton Barrett – before going full-time with Chance 2 in 2004. In 2004, he won six times and captured seven poles on the way to his first Busch Series title, then matched that in 2005 with another title, six more wins and three poles.
• In 2006, Truex Jr. moved up to the Sprint Cup Series full-time with DEI after having made nine starts (2004-2005) for the team. He earned his first and only win to date in 2007 at Dover International Speedway, the first season he made the Chase for the Sprint Cup. 
•  In 2007, he established the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation, which works with nonprofit charitable organizations in NJ and NC, with limited name recognition and budgets that work to impact the lives of children in need. Fundraisers for the foundation include an annual golf tournament and the Catwalk for a Cause fashion show.
• In 2010, Truex Jr. left Earnhardt Ganassi Racing (formerly DEI) to drive for MWR. In his first two years with the team, he finished 22nd and 18th in points before making it back into the Chase this year.
• His younger brother Ryan is a two-time K&N Pro Series East champion who currently races part-time in the Nationwide Series for various teams, including Joe Gibbs Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing.
• Off the track, Truex Jr. is an avid outdoors man who enjoys hunting and fishing.
• Find out more about Truex Jr. at www.mtjauthentics.com, and find out about his foundation at martintruexjrfoundation.org.