American · Mayetta, USA · Born 29 June 1980American NASCAR driver who won the 2017 Cup Series Championship and became one of the sport's most consistent winners in the 2010s and 2020s.
Martin Lee Truex Jr. was born on 29 June 1980 in Mayetta, New Jersey, and began racing go-karts at New Egypt Speedway in Ocean County before his father, Martin Sr., a Busch North Series driver, retired from his own career to advance his son's racing ambitions. Truex began his career in the Busch North Series in 2000, and joined Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s Xfinity Series team in 2004, winning back-to-back championships in 2004 and 2005 with 12 combined wins, defeating future stars including Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin along the way. Truex moved to the Cup Series full-time in 2006, delivering his first Cup win at Dover in 2007, before a career-defining 2017 season, in which he dominated NASCAR's new stage-based playoff format to win the Cup Series championship at Homestead-Miami, his first premier-series title. Truex has continued racing at the highest level, winning seven races in 2019 alone, and competed part-time in his later career with Tricon Garage, closing out one of the most respected careers in modern NASCAR, built on the sacrifices his father made to launch it.
2017 NASCAR Cup Series Champion, known for road course and intermediate track excellence
How They Played
Smooth driving style, exceptional at saving equipment and fuel strategy, strong in long runs
Lasting Impact
One of NASCAR's most consistent drivers of the 2010s, transformed from underdog to champion
Career Honours
- First Cup Series win at Dover International Speedway (2007)
- NASCAR Cup Series Championship (2017)
American Athletes