Up front: Martin Truex Jr.

By Melissa G. Lamkin - NASCAR Illustrated

Monday, December 07, 2009

Martin Truex Jr. will drive for Michael Waltrip Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2010.

LaDon George
NASCAR Scene

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With his announcement that he will leave Earnhardt Ganassi Racing to replace Michael Waltrip in the NAPA Toyota in 2010, Martin Truex Jr. closed out an unusually long and stressful free agency. (Last year, the 29-year-old from Mayetta, N.J., merely postponed the contract-related questions for a year by re-upping with DEI, as his team was known then.)
NASCAR Illustrated
We chatted with Truex about the trials and tribulations of a contract year, his brother’s budding racing career and the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation.

NASCAR Illustrated: Do you think fans understand the pressure a contract year brings?

Martin Truex Jr.: No, not really. I don’t think they understand all that goes into it. I think they just think that everyone should drive for Hendrick or Gibbs just because they win so many races.

NI: Did you have a lot of sleepless nights?

Truex: Yes, thinking about it a lot for the last four or five months has been tough. It’s not just, “Hey are they going to have the fastest car in the garage?” There’s a lot that goes into your decision. You have to think about every aspect: the sponsorship, the team, the people on the team and what you think about them, how you can fit in, and what kind of impact could you make with the team.

NI: How do you feel about your decision?

Truex: I have a great opportunity. It all worked itself out and I am really excited about it. I think it’s the perfect situation for me. You know, I could be standing here and wondering how it’s going to go or be nervous about it but I’m just really excited and think it’s going to be a great thing for me. All of the worrying was worth it.

NI: Will we be seeing you in NAPA commercials?

Truex: I hope so. That’s the plan. I think it will be a different experience for me. I haven’t done much of that, so I think it’s going to be cool. The people at NAPA have had some great commercials over the years and I imagine they could put just about anybody in a commercial and make it funny.

NI: What’s it like to see your younger brother, Ryan, racing in the Camping World East Series?

Truex: He’s just so much younger than me. He’s 17 and I’m 29. He’s a youngster. I was Cup racing before he started racing, so we haven’t even been on a race track together or at the same time. He just got his driver’s license when he turned 17 in April. He’s been racing longer than he’s been driving on the road.

NI: Does it make you nervous when he’s racing?

Truex: Yeah, it makes me real nervous. I can’t believe it. I’ve never been nervous about anything in my life until I start watching him race. At Loudon when he was leading, I was on the trailer sweating bullets. I wish I could be out there racing with him because it would be easier to see what he is doing.

NI: How does it feel to host annual golf and poker tournaments for your foundation?

Truex: It’s cool to go home and do something like that in your own community. That was the first time I had done something like that and it’s kind of humbling to see your friends, family and the people you grew up with and around support it so much. They were all surprised at how big it was. They couldn’t believe it; I couldn’t believe it.

NI: Does the money you raise go to various charities your foundation supports or does it stay in your hometown?

Truex: We’ll use it throughout the foundation, but a lot of it will go to one of the biggest projects we’re working on at Southern Ocean County Hospital. It’s right there near my hometown. We’re helping them build an entire children’s wing.

NI: If you could change one thing in NASCAR, what would it be?

Truex: We need to work on the cars more. You can do all you want with changing the rules and procedures, but we’ve still got the same cars out there racing. There’s a lot we can do to the cars that would help us race better. Right now, we’re kind of in a box and it’s hard to do anything when it’s not right. With the old car, if some guy had a certain style you could build the car around him and you could do things that he liked. Now, the drivers can’t really get what they are looking for in their cars.

This story originally appeared in the October 2009 issue of NASCAR Illustrated.