Top 35 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers: No. 23 - Martin Truex Jr.

By Rea White - Associate Editor

Wednesday, December 09, 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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Top 35 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers: No. 25 - Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Top 35 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers: No. 26, Elliott Sadler

Top 35 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers: No. 27 - David Ragan

Martin Truex Jr. opened the season with hopes of returning to NASCAR's Chase For The Sprint Cup for the second time in three seasons, but he ended it heading to a new organization after four full seasons with what became Earnhardt Ganassi Racing this year.

Truex, 29, won two championships in what is now the Nationwide Series and made the 2007 Chase with teams tied to Dale Earnhardt Inc., which merged with Chip Ganassi Racing in the offseason to create EGR and team him with Juan Pablo Montoya. He finished 11th in the series standings in 2007, a career best, and was 15th in 2008. But 2009 didn't go as well for Truex and his Kevin Manion-led team.

Truex started the year by earning the pole position for the season-opening Daytona 500 and netted his first top-10 finish in the fourth race. He was inconsistent early but fell deeper in the standings over the summer months as he labored through a streak of finishes mostly in the middle of the pack.

Late in the year, he announced plans to move to Michael Waltrip Racing in 2010, driving the NAPA-sponsored No. 56 entry.

The Mayetta, N.J., native finished 23rd in the Cup standings and earned $4,751,657 in purses.

During the offseason, SceneDaily is taking a look at the top 35 in 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup driver points. Here’s how Truex’s season unfolded:

By the numbers: Truex ended the season with six top-10 finishes, one of them a top-five, and five DNFs. His best finish was fifth at Phoenix International Raceway in his second-to-last outing with EGR.

Season highlights: Truex obviously discovered something in qualifying, earning three pole positions this season. He led laps in nine different races, spending 184 laps at the front of the field.

Key setbacks: As with most drivers deeper in the standings, unfinished races hampered Truex. The driver dealt with five DNFs over the course of the year, all because of accidents.

Newsworthy moment: Truex announced in July that he will join MWR in 2010, driving the No. 56 entry that will replace the full-time effort of Michael Waltrip this season. It was later announced that Pat Tryson will join the team as Truex's crew chief.

In his words: "I like the way they do business," Truex said of his decision to join Michael Waltrip Racing. "… It wasn't just one little thing that made the decisions for me. It was a lot of things. I have been able to see they have got a great thing here, a great company, and we're just starting to see what they can do, and that's something. ... I wanted to be a part of it, and from here on out, I think, it will keep getting better. Certainly that's how I hope it to be, and I hope I can make an impact and come in here and help them do even better. For me it's a great situation overall."