Martin Truex Jr.

Truex Jr. was born in Mayetta, New Jersey, a community in Stafford Township. He graduated from Southern Regional High School in 1998. His father, Martin Truex Sr., was a former race winner in the Busch North Series who competed full-time in the East Series in the 1990s. His younger brother Ryan competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing and is a two-time consecutive champion in what is now the ARCA Menards Series East. His uncle Barney competed part-time in the Whelen Modified Tour in the 1980s, and cousins Curtis Truex Jr. and Tyler Truex are late model racing drivers.

Truex Jr. began his racing career driving go-karts at New Egypt Speedway in Ocean County, New Jersey, when it was still a paved track. He moved to the Modified division at Wall Stadium in 1998, as soon as he was old enough under New Jersey regulations.

In 2000, Truex moved south, renting a home from Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Mooresville, North Carolina. He began racing in the Busch North Series, running three full seasons (2000–2002) and making limited starts in 2003, claiming thirteen poles and five wins in his family-owned No. 56 SeaWatch Chevy.

Truex made his first Busch Series start in 2001 at Dover International Speedway in his father's No. 56 Chevy. In 2003, he drove for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 81 Chance 2 Motorsports Chevy, making his debut at Richmond International Raceway where he qualified sixth and led 11 laps before a transmission failure ended his run. That season he also had a sixth-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway and consecutive second-place finishes to close the year.

Racing full-time for Chance 2 in 2004, Truex earned his first career victory at Bristol and added three more wins over the next seven races, including at Talladega Superspeedway and the final NASCAR event held at Nazareth Speedway. He clinched the Busch Series championship with a race to spare. During this title run he also made his first Cup start, relieving Dale Earnhardt Jr. — who had suffered burns in a sports car accident — in the No. 1 for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

In 2005, Truex defended his championship, winning the first Busch Series points race held outside the United States, in Mexico, and defending wins at Talladega and Dover. He took his first Daytona International Speedway win on July 1, 2005.

Truex moved to the No. 1 DEI Chevy full-time in the Nextel Cup Series in 2006, finishing nineteenth in points. In 2007, he won the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Open and scored his first Sprint Cup win at the Autism Speaks 400, leading 216 of 400 laps and winning by seven seconds over pole-sitter Ryan Newman. He clinched a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup and finished eleventh in points. He did not win in 2008 but collected eleven top-ten finishes and placed fifteenth in the standings.

When Dale Earnhardt, Inc. merged into Chip Ganassi Racing and was renamed Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Truex's No. 1 carried over to replace the defunct No. 41. He won the pole for the 2009 Daytona 500 and added poles at Atlanta and Phoenix. He departed after the season and was replaced by Jamie McMurray.

Truex joined Michael Waltrip Racing to drive the No. 56 Toyota Camry — his family's historic number from his father's Grand National Division days. In his first race for the team, he finished sixth in the 2010 Daytona 500. He finished the 2010 season 22nd in points and made the Chase in 2012, finishing eleventh that year.

In 2013, Truex broke a 218-race winless streak at Sonoma Raceway, winning by more than eight seconds over Jeff Gordon. Only Bill Elliott's 226-race stretch between 1994 and 2001 exceeds Truex's drought. It was only the second NASCAR Cup win for a car numbered 56, after Jim Hurtubise in a 1966 Atlanta race.

Later that season at Bristol, a wreck on lap 448 broke Truex's right wrist; he continued racing in a cast. At the final regular-season race at Richmond, Truex initially secured the final Wildcard spot over Ryan Newman, but MWR was found to have attempted to manipulate the race result. Truex, Clint Bowyer, and Brian Vickers each lost fifty points, bumping Truex from the Chase; crew chiefs received probation, Ty Norris was suspended, and MWR was fined $300,000.

On October 17, 2013, it was confirmed Truex would move to Furniture Row Racing for 2014, driving the No. 78 Chevrolet vacated by Kurt Busch, with his MWR pit crew following him to the team.

Before the 2015 season, rookie crew chief Cole Pearn replaced Todd Berrier. Truex responded by leading the most laps in fourteen of his first fifteen races and finishing in the top-ten in fourteen of those starts — the first driver to match that feat since Richard Petty in 1969. He won at Pocono Raceway, snapping a 69-race winless streak, advanced to the Championship Four at Homestead-Miami, and finished fourth in points, then a career best.

For 2016, Furniture Row switched from Chevrolet to Toyota. Truex lost the Daytona 500 by 0.010 seconds to Denny Hamlin — the closest finish in race history. On May 29 he dominated the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, leading a record 392 of 400 laps, surpassing Jim Paschal's 1967 record of 335 laps and leading the most miles (588) ever by a single driver in any NASCAR race. He won the Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway for his second win of 2016 and added a third at Chicagoland and a fourth at Dover before being eliminated in the Round of 12 when his engine failed at Talladega.

Truex started 2017 by winning the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway — Toyota's first win of the season with the new 2018 Camry — becoming the first driver to win all three stages of the new stage format. He won six times in the regular season, including at Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, and Watkins Glen International (his first road course win at that venue). He clinched the regular-season championship at Darlington after winning two stages.

In the playoffs he won at Chicagoland, Charlotte, and Kansas, then advanced to the Championship Four. At the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Truex won the race and the championship, his first NASCAR Cup title. He won eight races and nineteen of 108 stages across the season — one of the most dominant campaigns in recent history.

In 2018, his final season with Furniture Row, Truex won at Fontana, Pocono, Sonoma, and Kentucky, collected fifteen top-fives during the regular season, and advanced to the Championship Four again. He finished second at Homestead to Joey Logano. Furniture Row Racing folded at season's end.

Truex signed with Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the No. 19, replacing Daniel Suárez, with Cole Pearn remaining as crew chief. In 2019 he scored seven wins — the most in the series that year — including his first Cup win on a short track at Richmond and back-to-back wins at Las Vegas and Richmond to open the playoffs. A tire mix-up on pit road at Homestead cost him the championship; he finished second in points for the second consecutive season.

After Pearn departed following 2019, Truex continued with crew chief James Small. He won at Martinsville in 2020 and again in 2021. In 2021, he drove the No. 51 for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series' Bristol dirt race, winning and becoming the 36th driver to win in all three top NASCAR series. He also won the Goodyear 400 at Darlington for his 30th career Cup victory. He reached the Championship Four at Phoenix that year but finished second in points behind Kyle Larson.

In 2022, Truex led the series in stage wins (seven) but missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014, finishing eighth — three points behind Ryan Blaney for the final playoff spot. In 2023, he won the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum, broke a 54-race winless streak at Dover, and won at Sonoma and New Hampshire, clinching the regular-season championship.

On June 14, 2024, Truex announced he would retire from full-time racing at season's end. Despite no regular-season wins, he made the playoffs and was eliminated after the Round of 16, finishing tenth in the final standings.

On January 16, 2025, it was announced that Tricon Garage would attempt to enter the Daytona 500, fielding the No. 56 Toyota Camry with Truex driving and Cole Pearn as crew chief, sponsored by Bass Pro Shops. Truex locked himself into the race as the fastest open car in qualifying but finished 38th after a crash — his first time back in the No. 56 since 2013.

Truex and Sherry Pollex were together from 2005 to 2023. In 2007 they founded the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation to support children with pediatric cancer. Pollex was diagnosed with Stage III ovarian cancer in 2014. The couple announced their separation on January 27, 2023; Pollex died on September 17, 2023. In 2019, Truex's holding company, which holds a small aircraft fleet, entered the human organ transport business.

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