Fast Facts: 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Martin Truex Jr.

2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champ
Martin Truex Jr.
credit: Getty Images/Jared C. Tilton
Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 78 Toyota Camry for Furniture Row Racing, is living the dream as the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champ. Learn more about this New Jersey native in this week’s championship edition of Fast Facts.
  • Martin Lee Truex Jr. was born June 29, 1980 in Trenton, NJ and grew up in Mayetta, NJ in the 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. Truex Jr.’s younger brother Ryan is a two-time K&N Pro Series East champ who currently races in the Camping World Truck Series for Hattori Racing Enterprises.
  • Truex Jr. started racing go-karts at age 11, then progressed to Modifieds at age 18 at the famed Wall Stadium Speedway in New Jersey. 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 operated Chance 2 Motorsports in cooperation with Dale Earnhardt Inc.; Truex Jr. competed in 10 Busch Series (now Xfinity 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, Truex Jr. won six times and captured seven poles on his 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 Nextel Cup (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup) Series full-time with DEI after having made nine starts in 2004 and 2005 for the team. He earned his first career win at Dover International Speedway and made the Chase for the Cup for the first time.
  • In 2010, Truex Jr. left Earnhardt Ganassi Racing (formerly DEI) to drive for Michael Waltrip Racing, where he raced until the end of the 2013 season. For the 2014 season, he joined Furniture Row Racing in the No. 78, and in 2015 snapped a 69-race winless streak with a popular victory at Pocono Raceway; he went on to finish fourth in points that year.
  • In 2016, Truex Jr. earned four wins, 17 top 10 finishes and five poles, once again qualifying for the Chase, but a blown engine early in the day at Talladega in October knocked him out of the hunt for the championship. He made up for it in 2017, winning eight times, collecting 26 top 10s and three poles, and winning the “regular season” championship along with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup.
  • In 2007, Truex Jr. and his girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, created the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation, which works to support underfunded cancer initiatives specific to ovarian and childhood cancers, and assist the individuals and families affected by them. In 2014, Pollex was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and has since shared her story and others at www.sherrystrong.org.
  • Find out more about Truex Jr. at www.shopmartintruexjr.com, and learn more about his foundation at www.martintruexjrfoundation.org


Fast Facts: 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Martin Truex Jr. Fast Facts: 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Martin Truex Jr. Reviewed by Paula on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 Rating: 5