Martin Truex Jr

Martin Truex Jr. made slight progress in his second season with Michael Waltrip Racing in 2011, scoring three top-five and 12 top-10 finishes and placing 18th in the final Sprint Cup standings.

Truex finished second in the August night race at Bristol, third in the season finale at Homestead and fourth at Watkins Glen.

The son of a former NASCAR East Series driver, Truex parlayed his friendship with Dale Earnhardt Jr. into a ride at Dale Earnhardt Inc. He moved to NASCAR in 2004, winning back-to-back Nationwide Series championships in 2004-05.

He made his Cup debut in 2004 At Atlanta and ran seven Cup races in 2005 before joining the series full time in 2006, finishing 19th in points.

A native of Mayetta, N.J., Truex had his best season in 2007, scoring his first Cup win, at Dover, and making the Chase For The Sprint Cup for DEI. He finished 11th in the final standings.

After slumping in 2008-09, Truex moved to MWR in 2010. His first season at MWR didn’t go as planned, however, as he scored just one top-five and seven top-10s and finished 22nd in the standings.

Truex created the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation in 2007, raising money for a variety of charities and creating the Martin Truex Jr. Pediatric Unit at Southern Ocean County (N.J.) hospital.