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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Truex Jr. - Something To Prove At MWR
Martin Truex Jr. received some high praise from a competitor...
Jeff Owens  | http://www.scenedaily.com  |  Posted January 23, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Martin Truex Jr. answers questions from the media at the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Media Tour. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

When four-time champion Jeff Gordon began rattling off names of drivers he expected to contend for the Sprint Cup championship this year, one surprising name stood out.

Martin Truex Jr.

“Interesting,” Truex said a few hours later. “I feel the same way.”

Aside from four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, there is probably no one more excited about the 2010 season than Truex, who left a struggling team at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing for a new start at Michael Waltrip Racing.

Though he joins an up-and-coming organization that has just one race victory so far, Truex is beaming with enthusiasm and concurs with Gordon’s assessment.

“That’s a great compliment coming from someone like Jeff,” he says. “I really do feel that. I feel this is my best opportunity and the best situation I have ever been in to be competitive every week and to have a great season. Obviously, we all say that every winter, but I really feel good about this one.”

Truex, a two-time Nationwide Series champion, had a breakout season in 2007, winning his first Cup race and making the Chase with Dale Earnhardt Inc. When Dale Earnhardt Jr. left after the 2007 season, Truex became the face of DEI.

But the merger with Chip Ganassi Racing the following year left Truex with an organization in transition and with a struggling team.

After slipping to 15th in points in 2008, he plummeted to 23rd in the standings last year with just one top-five finish.

For Truex, 29, it was time to move on.

“It was just time to do something different,” he said. “If you keep doing the same things, you are going to keep getting the same results. I think things just kind of got stale. This has got me re-energized, bringing in new ideas and coming into a new team that does things differently than I’m used to.”

As one of the sport’s rising stars, Truex was expected to land with an elite team. But when no openings materialized, he turned his attention to MWR, a well-funded Toyota team on the rise.

It didn’t hurt that his brother, Ryan, was already there, winning the Camping World East championship for MWR last year.

“This was, I felt, the best fit for me,” Truex said. “When I met all the people that work here and felt the atmosphere around here, it felt good to me. Everybody really enjoyed being here and this wasn’t just a job to them, this was something that every day they come to work they are excited and they give more than anybody could ever give in their job.

“They don’t want to just do their job, they want to do it the best they can and go out and win. I felt that when I came in here, and I still do.”


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Jeff Owens

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