FANTASY NASCAR Racin

an American stock car racing driver. As of 2014 he drives the #78 Chevrolet SS for Furniture Row Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Truex is a two-time Xfinity Series champion; having won the title in 2004 and 2005. His younger brother, Ryan is a champion in the K&N Pro Series East division. In 2006, Truex moved to the #1 Bass Pro/DEI Chevy full-time in the Sprint Cup Series. He had two top-five finishes but finished nineteenth in points. Truex got his first win of the 2007 at the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Open, securing a spot in the 2007 Sprint All-Star Challenge, where he finished 10th. A few weeks later, he won the Autism Speaks 400, scoring his first Cup Series win with an interval of seven seconds between himself and pole sitter Ryan Newman. He did not win in 2008, but had eleven top-tens and finished 15th in points. At the beginning of the 2009 season, his team, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. merged with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and be renamed Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix

Sabates. Truex began the year by winning the pole for the Daytona 500. Overall in the season, Truex had acclaimed 3 pole positions (Daytona, Atlanta, and Phoenix), following his first pole in 2007 at Texas. 2009 would be his final season with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. At the conclusion of the 2009 season, Truex left Earnhardt Ganassi Racing to drive the #56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing, receiving owner points from the #55 car formerly driven by Waltrip. The #56 was the number Martin's father drove in during his time in the Cup Division and is considered the "family number". In his first race for Michael Waltrip Racing, Truex finished sixth in the Daytona 500. Truex started 2012 well, winning a $100,000 bonus and finishing 7th in the Daytona 500. He finally hit his stride in Texas, winning the pole and leading 69 laps. He ended up in 11th in the points, with 0 wins, 7 top 5s and 19 top 10s. Truex had high and low notes in 2013. He had a few top five finishes in the early races. His first best run

of 2013 was Texas, when he led during the final 55 laps of the race but came up short losing to Kyle Busch, who passed him to win with 19 laps left in the race. At Sonoma, Truex broke a 218 race win-less streak, starting 14th on the starting grid and working his way up to win by over eight seconds over Jeff Gordon at Sonoma. It is only the second time a car numbered 56 won in NASCAR's highest division, the first being Jim Hurtubise in a 1966 Atlanta race. In the final race at Richmond, he was in the midst of a fierce battle for the final Wildcard spot, eventually coming out over Ryan Newman by a tiebreaker. As Newman and Truex each had one win, the wildcard spot went to Truex, for having a

better number of top-five finishes than Newman; however on Monday evening, it was announced that due to MWR having attempted to manipulate the results of the race, points penalties were assessed -50 points for Truex, Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers each - that resulted in Truex being bumped from the Chase and Newman and Jeff Gordon being added to the Chase field. In the final 10 races of the season, he had 4 top 10 finishes, which included a top 5 run at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On October 14, 2013, it was announced that Michael Waltrip Racing's #56 would become a research and development developement team in 2014. This in part was due to NAPA Auto Parts deciding to withdraw their sponsorship in

the fallout from the Richmond controversy. Truex was told he could offer his services as a driver to other teams, and on October 17 it was confirmed that for the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season Truex and his pit crew would move to Furniture Row Racing and drive the #78 Chevrolet SS being vacated by Kurt Busch. Truex's first season with owner Barney Visser and the Furniture Row team was a dismal failure. He only led one lap all season and posted a best finish of fourth; and only five top ten finishes. 2015 saw a significant up-tick in performance and Truex posted his first win since 2013 and only the third of his career. Truex won at Pocono in convincing style leading almost half the laps. Truex eventually advanced to the

Championship part of the Chase with a shot at winning the Cup title; ending up fourth in the points. 2016 was a banner year for Truex and his Furniture Row Race team. He grabbed four wins, including the Southern 500; and had several other races that slipped away. The second half of the season every race they seemed to be one of the cars to beat. When the elimination part of the Chase started he won the first event guaranteeing himself advancement into round two. Round two went well until the final race at Talladega. He blew a motor early and finished last. This knocked him out of moving further forward in the hunt for the Championship. He ended up 11th in points. For 2017 the Barny Visser owned team of Furniture Row purchased

another Charter and added young driver Erik Jones to their stable to join Truex. Both drivers did well. Jones won Rookie of the Year honors; while Truex had a great season winning eight times and collected the Cup Championship. He also had an impressive 19 top 5 finishes in 36 races. After claiming the 2017 Cup Championship; Truex once again showed he had a car good enough to defend his Championship. He was part of "the big three" which also included Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. The trio combined to garner 20 of the seasons 36 wins. Truex won on four occasions. He, Harvick and Busch all made the final round race at Homestead to vie for the Championship. They were joined by Joey Logano. With a pass of Kyle Busch with 16 laps to go in the race; Truex looked like he would grab the win and another title. But a late race

yellow set up a 12 lap shootout. Logano had a good short run car all night; and with just a short run to the checkers; Logano got by Truex and went on to claim the win. Truex finished second. Earlier in the season owner Barney Visser had announced the teams wasn't able to attract a full time sponsor for 2019; so the team would shut down. This left Truex without a ride. Visser's team was a satellite team of the Joe Gibbs Racing team, and had received technical support for several years. Thus Gibbs hired Truex to drive one of his cars; and let Daniel Suarez go. Truex kicked off the season like so many others - involved in a big crash in the season opening race. He finished 35th. He rebounded with two second place finishes in the next three races and

then won for the first time in 2019 at Richmond. It was his first career short track win. Two weeks later he won again and then an additional two weeks he won one of NASCAR's Crown Jewels when he won the Coke 600. He added yet another win when the Cup series raced at the road course of Sonoma. Of course with a wins he was locked into the NASCAR playoffs and when the Chase kicked off he came out and won the first two races showing he was going to be a force to be dealt with. He advance through round two easily and when round three of the Chase kicked off; he grabbed the win at Martinsville; locking his team in the Championship race and giving his team two weeks to work on that Championship car without any worries. When the Championship race at Miami; Truex

was easily one of the favorite. But his team mates of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin also qualified for the Championship. Truex ran well early and won the first stage. He was still leading going into green flag pit stops at the midpoint of stage two. However, the race and championship hopes unraveled due to a miscue during the pit stop, in which the left and right side tires were switched around, and installed to the incorrect sides. The pit road error forced an unscheduled stop and rendered Truex a lap down for much of the second stage. He recovered and began to rally back through the field. He regained the lead on lap 210 of the 267 lap event. He ran well the entire race, but as the sun went down and the track changed the car lost speed. The race ran the last 100 laps under green and as the track gained more grip Kyle Busch moved

into the lead with 45 laps to go. Busch went on to beat Truex by 4 1/2 seconds to claim the win and the Championship. His 2020 season started off like many others drivers; being caught up in a big crash at Daytona. But things didn't improve as he finished 20th at Las Vegas; 14th at Fontana CA, and crashed at Phoenix and finished 32nd. Then racing was postponed for two months for the caronavirus; and Truex seemed to turn things around when racing resumed. Six of the next seven races he finished in the top ten; and won at Martinsville. From there he had a multitude of second and third place finishes. He had a string of races where he was second or third. He mad the Chase and managed to point his way through each round; and when he got to Martinsville he was in a 'must win' situation to advance to the Championship race. He led 129

laps and was leading with less than 50 laps to go; but Chase Elliott had a dominant car and raced away from the field to get the win. For the season he had one win; 14 top five and 23 top ten finishes. Truex seemed to be the leader of the JGR bunch in 2021. Hamlin took until September to win his first race; Kyle Busch seemed to struggle without having any practice before the races; and Christopher Bell was still getting used to his new top level equipment. Truex won the fifth race of the season at Phoenix; then again four weeks later at Martinsville. He won again at Darlington in May and when the Chase started he won at Richmond. He managed to progress through the rounds and found himself in the Championship race with a chance to win the Cup title. Truex and Larson had the best cars in the race as they led 179 of the 312 laps. Truex had a comfortable lead with 30 laps to go; but

a car lost some debris on the track and the yellow hankie flew. Everyone pitted and Larson’s team got him out first. When the green flew with 23 laps to go Larson scooted out to a lead and managed to hold off Truex who finished second. Also in 2021, Truex made his first Truck Series start since 2006. He used the start as a way to get some extra seat time on the dirt at Bristol and managed to put the truck in victory circle. He made one start in the Xfinity Series driving the “all star” #54 car. The car saw various drivers behind the wheel as the car racked up an

impressive number of wins. Truex would finish second in this race; his first start in the series since 2010. Truex signed a contract extension in 2021 with JGR so he will be back in the #19 Toyota in 2022. After having seven consecutive years claiming at least one win; Truex went winless in 2022. It seemed he was snake bit. Truex started the 2022 season with a 13th place finish at the 2022 Daytona 500. He blew a tire and crashed at Phoenix while running well. He had a good run of races as he finished eighth at Atlanta; seventh at COTA and fourth at Richmond. But they never found the handle on the new Next-Gen car at Martinsville and finished 22nd. A track where he usually contends for the win. A 21st place result followed the next week at at Bristol. A few weeks later he

was involved in a crash at Darlington and finished 24. He had a couple weeks of top ten runs; followed by a couple weeks of finishes in the mid-20's. In June, Truex expressed uncertainty about his future in the NASCAR Cup Series with him debating over if he will retire or stay with JGR. He put together a strong run the rest of the regular season with only two runs worse than 13th, and five top tens. So many different drivers had won races; they were faced with the possibility of locking themselves into the play-offs via a win; it was a tight battle between Truex and Ryan Blaney to see

who would make the Chase. BOTH could make the Chase providing there was not a new winner the final race at Daytona. As luck would have it; Austin Dillon would be a new winner and claim the victory; so the person with the most points filled the final spot. That went to Blaney over Truex by three points. Despite leading the season in stage wins (7) and being fourth in the regular season standings at the conclusion of the race, Truex missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014 after finishing eighth. In the play-offs Truex's bad luck continued. He had a water pump fail at Darlington; He had his steering box go out at Bristol; he blew a tire while leading at Texas and crashed out. Even in the season final race; he pitted under yellow from the

lead spot. He almost missed his pit stall, and when he slammedon his brakes to try and make his spot; he got nudged and spun into his stall backwards, scattering his crew members everywhere. He exited the pits last on the lead lap and was never a contender the rest of the race. He finished 17th in the 2022 points. Truex would ultimately choose to stay with JGR and run the 2023 season. Truex showed much improvement over his 2022 season. After going winless; the team was determined to get back in the winners circle. The team made mediocre runs with only one top ten through the first seven races. He broke through and finished third at Martinsville for his first top five when he finished third. At Dover he led 68 laps and got his first win in 55 races. Starting at the Coke 600 in Charlotte, Truex ran off a run of four straight top five finishes; including a win at Sonoma. At Loudon NH he would win again, and go on a streak of six races where he finished no worse than seventh. Truex would go on to win the regular season points, and gain the extra points toward the playoffs. Unfortunately when the Chase for the championship started at Darlington he finished 19th. At Kansas he was involved in a crash and finished 36th. He finished 19th Bristol but somehow managed to move on to the Round of 12. In that round he continued to have poor finishes. Finishes of 17th, 18th and 20th in that round, along with his bonus points saw him eek through to the Round of 8. A blown motor at Homestead saw him come up short of advancing to the final round to race for the Championship. Truex finished sixth at Phoenix, but ended up eleventh in the season points. He will be back in the #19 for JGR in 2024. For his career, Truex has started 657 Cup Series races and claimed 34 wins. His major wins include the Coke 600 (2016, 2019) and the Southern 500 (2016). He has also ran 104 Xfinity races with 13 wins and 41 Top 5’s. He made a Truck Series start in 2021, and won at Bristol on the dirt. Some info from Wikipedia.

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

MARTIN LEE TRUEX Jr - 06/29/1980