(born
June 29 ,
1980 in
Mayetta, New Jersey ) is a
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver. He currently pilots the #1
Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Monte Carlo for
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. . Truex won the
Busch Series Championship in
2004 and again in
2005 .
Truex's father, Martin Sr., was a former champion in the Busch North Series and a successful modified driver. The younger Truex began racing in the Busch North series in 2000, and won 3 races in 3 years with a family owned team.
Truex made occasional Busch Series starts in 2001 and 2002. Though never a big name, he caught the attention of
Dale Earnhardt Jr. , who signed him to a contract to join Dale's Chance 2 racing team in 2003. In 6 Busch Series starts for Chance 2, he finished in the top 10 3 times, including consecutive 2nd place finishes to end the season.
Truex raced full time for Dale Jr. in 2004. At
Bristol Motor Speedway , he would earn his first career victory, and he would later add 3 more victories over the next 7 races. This would include a victory at
Talladega Superspeedway which broke his car owner's stranglehold on winning
Restrictor Plate races in the Busch Series, and a victory at the final NASCAR event held at
Nazareth Speedway . He took the lead in the championship after Nazareth, but lost it to
Kyle Busch a few races later. However, a series of top 5's and top 10's in the second half of the season would allow Truex to pull away from Busch, clinching the Busch Series championship with a race to spare.
While on his way to that championship, Truex made an appearance in
Nextel Cup as a relief driver to Dale Jr., who'd suffered burns in a sports car accident. Truex started his first career Cup race for
Dale Earnhardt Inc. at
Atlanta Motor Speedway later that year.
Truex stayed in the Busch Series to defend his championship in 2005, successfully defending the title. He won the first NASCAR race held in Mexico, as well as defending his Busch wins at Talladega and
Dover International Speedway . He took his first win at
Daytona International Speedway on
June 1 st, 2005.
Truex's association with Dale Jr., NASCAR's most popular driver, has earned him alarge following of his own. This was evident at the 2005
Nextel All-Star Challenge , when a fan vote put Truex into the field for the event. Truex scored his first NEXTEL Cup Top 10 at the 2005 Coca Cola 600 when he finished 7th.
Truex is running full-time in the 2006 Nextel Cup season with the #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc. In early races he has showed no sign of being overawed by the step up.
- Martin rents a home from Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in Mooresville, North Carolina .
- Martin is an avid outdoorsman (hunting and fishing are two of his passions); he and Earnhardt, Jr. split the cost of purchasing a fishing boat.
- His favorite food is seafood.
- If he never got into racing he would have worked at his family business "Seawatch" which serves seafood on the New Jersey shore.
- He has a very Large family
