Personal life

Truex was born in Trenton, New Jersey, and grew up in the Mayetta section of Stafford Township, New Jersey. He graduated from Southern Regional High School in 1998. His father, Martin Truex, Sr., was a former race winner in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, then called the NASCAR Busch North Series. His younger brother, Ryan, is a former champion in the K&N Pro Series East, and was a contender for 2014 Rookie of the Year in Sprint Cup.

Truex is an avid fan of the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL.

Truex and his girlfriend Sherry Pollex have been together since 2005. In 2007, they started the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation to support children with pediatric cancer. In 2014, Pollex was diagnosed with Stage III ovarian cancer.

Early career

The younger Truex began racing in the NASCAR Camping World East Series in 2000, and won 5 races in 4 years with a family-owned team. After moving south, Truex rented a home from Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Mooresville, North Carolina, before he purchased his own home.

In 2000, Truex, following in his father's footsteps, began racing in the Busch North Series (now the K&N Pro Series East. He ran three full seasons (2000 to 2002) and made limited starts in 2003. During his time in the Busch North Series, Truex claimed 13 poles and 5 wins driving his family-owned No. 56 SeaWatch Chevy.

NASCAR

2001-2005: Busch Series

Truex made his first Busch Series start in 2001 at Dover International Speedway in his father's No. 56 Chevy. He started 19th but finished 38th after an early wreck. In 2002, Truex drove one race for Phoenix Racing at New Hampshire International Speedway, starting thirteenth and finishing twenty-ninth. He ran three races the rest of that season for his father, his best finish seventeenth at Dover.

In 2003, he began the season with his father's team, before he was hired by Dale Earnhardt Jr. to drive his No. 81 Chance 2 Motorsports Chevy. He made his debut with Chance 2 at Richmond International Raceway, where he qualified sixth and led eleven laps before transmission failure forced him to a 31st-place finish. He split time between Chance 2 and his father's team for the balance of the season, except at Dover, where he drove for Stanton Barrett. He had a sixth-place run at Bristol Motor Speedway, and ended the season with two consecutive second-place finishes. He ran a total of ten races that season.

Truex raced full-time for Chance 2 in 2004. At Bristol Motor Speedway, he would earn his first career victory, and he would later add 3 more victories over the next 7 races. This would include a victory at Talladega Superspeedway which broke his car owner's streak of winning restrictor plate races in the Busch Series, and a victory at the final NASCAR event held at Nazareth Speedway. He took the lead in the championship after Nazareth, but lost it to rookie Kyle Busch a few races later. However, a series of top 5's and top 10's in the second half of the season would allow Truex to pull away from Busch, clinching the Busch Series championship with a race to spare. While on his way to that championship, Truex made an appearance in the Nextel Cup Series as a relief driver to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who'd suffered burns in a sports car accident. Truex started his first career Cup race for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) in the No. 1 at Atlanta Motor Speedway later that year, qualifying 33rd and finishing 37th.

Truex stayed in the Busch Series to defend his championship in 2005, winning the title for the second season in a row. He won the first Busch Series points race held outside the United States, in Mexico, as well as defending his wins at Talladega and Dover International Speedway. He took his first win at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2005.

2006-2009: Earnhardt Ganassi Racing

In 2006, Truex moved to the No. 1 DEI Chevy full-time in the Nextel Cup Series. He had two Top 5 finishes and finished 19th in points. Truex got his first win of the 2007 season in the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Open, securing a spot in the 2007 Nextel All-Star Challenge, where he finished 10th. A few weeks later, he won the Autism Speaks 400, scoring his first Sprint Cup Series win with an interval of seven seconds betweenpole sitter Ryan Newman and himself, even though he led over half of the race—219 of the 400 laps. This victory led to a jump in overall points advancing him to 13th, followed by a third-place finish at Pocono Raceway and a second-place finish at Michigan. With a 15th-place finish in the Chevy Rock and Roll 400, Truex clinched a spot in his first Chase for the Sprint Cup and finished 11th in points at season's end. He did not go to victory lane in 2008, but he did have 11 Top 10's and finished 15th in points. At the beginning of the 2009 season, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. merged with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and was renamed Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Truex began the year by winning the pole for the Daytona 500. Later in the season, Truex had acclaimed two more pole positions at Atlanta and Phoenix, following his first pole in 2007 at Texas. 2009 would be his final season with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

2010-2013: Michael Waltrip Racing

2010-2011

At the conclusion of the 2009 season, Truex left Earnhardt Ganassi Racing to drive the No. 56 Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing, receiving owner points from the No. 55 car formerly driven by Waltrip. The No. 56 was the number Martin's father drove in during his time in the Grand National Division and is considered the "family number". In his first race for Michael Waltrip Racing, Truex finished sixth in the Daytona 500.

After the series of setbacks the following 3 weeks with a blown engine and accidents, he fell back to 24th in the point standings, but in the next 7 races after finishing in the top 12 5 times and all top 19 finishes, he would gain to 13th in the point standings. At Dover, he earned his 5th career pole. Truex won the All Star Showdown at Charlotte thereby earning the 1st transfer spot for the All Star Race which he finished 2nd in from a 19th (out of 21) starting spot. Truex would go on to finish the 2010 season 22nd in the point standings with 1 top 5 finish and 7 top 10 finishes.

At Martinsville the following year in 2011, Truex accidentally made slight contact with Kasey Kahne resulting in a large wreck; Truex hit the wall hard head on and his car flew on fire for a few seconds as Kahne hit the wall in his car's rear. Truex climbed out instantly and went to check on Kahne who received standing ovation as he climbed out uninjured. Truex then left with officials to the care center. He said the wreck was his hardest of his career and both Truex and Kahne were released with normal symptoms. The next week officials told him his wreck was the hardest crash at Martinsville. Truex won another pole at Dover International Raceway. Truex ran well in most of the races but often struggled to finish the races off. He was docked 25 points because of a windshield violation in the fall Talladega race. Truex ended the season 18th in points, with 3 top 5s and 12 top 10s.

2012

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. The following week at Kansas he started sixth and flat-out dominated the race, leading 173 of 267 laps but falling short to Denny Hamlin. At Atlanta he led 40 of the final 46 laps, but ultimately fell short to Hamlin again when he was forced to pit under a late race caution for fuel, ending up fourth. Truex finished 21st, however he had a spot clinched in the chase, and ultimately made it in. He ended up 11th in the points, with 0 wins, 7 top 5s and 19 top 10s.

2013

Truex had an up and down 2013 season. 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 ended up losing to Kyle Busch. Truex also had low notes, including an accident at Martinsville and a blown engine at Dover. The highlight of the season was at Sonoma, when Truex broke a 218 race winless streak, starting 14th on the starting grid and working his way up to win by over eight seconds over Jeff Gordon. Truex's 218 race winless streak is second only to Bill Elliott, who went winless in 226 races between 1994 to 2001. It is only the second time a car numbered No. 56 won in NASCAR's highest division, the first being Jim Hurtubise in a 1966 Atlanta race.

Returning to Bristol, Truex was involved in a wreck on Lap 448 where his car hit an inside wall at an angle that he broke his right wrist; he continued racing in spite of wearing a cast on his right wrist. At Atlanta, despite nursing a broken wrist, Truex finished third to Kyle Busch and Joey Logano. 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, as well as probation for all 3 crew chiefs, suspension of Ty Norris, and a $300,000 fine. In the final 10 races of the season, Truex had 4 top 10 finishes, which included a top 5 run at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

2014-present: Furniture Row Racing

2014

On October 14, 2013, it was announced that Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 56 would become a research and development team in 2014. 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 would move to Furniture Row Racing and drive the No. 78 Chevrolet SS being vacated by Kurt Busch. When the deal was formally announced on November 1, 2013, before the Texas race, it was announced that Furniture Row had also signed on all of the members of Truex's MWR pit crew.

Truex's 2014 season started with an outside pole qualifying run for the Daytona 500, Furniture Row Racing's first front row start in the 500. However, Truex's engine failed on lap 31.

Truex did poorly in the spring but rebounded with 4 top tens in the later part of the season. He only led a single lap (at Talladega in the October race) and finished 24th in the final points.

2015

Prior to the 2015 season, crew chief Todd Berrier was released and replaced with rookie crew chief Cole Pearn.

Truex's season began on a high note. He led the most laps of the Sprint Unlimited (28 of 75) . He led late but after a late-race red flag period erased his 5-second lead on Joey Logano, Truex lost his rhythm and finished second to Matt Kenseth. In a post-race interview an emotional Truex said "We needed this. The race was over once Kenseth pulled away from me. But we needed this. After the last year and a half that I've had this satisfies a lot."

Truex continued his good momentum, finishing in the top ten in 14 of the first 15 races including a runner-up at Las Vegas. His only poor finish during this period was a 29th-place finish at Bristol, seven laps down, after being swept up in a late race accident.

At Kansas, Truex led the most laps (95), but a late caution killed his chances as he slipped back to 9th on the last restart, and he was unable to make up enough ground to catch Jimmie Johnson.

At the Coca-Cola 600, Truex led the most laps (131 of 400), but with 20 laps to go he had to make a late race fuel stop and finished 5th. At Dover, Truex led the most laps again (131 of 405), but a poor restart caused him to slide back to seventh and cost him the race to Johnson.

At Pocono, Truex started third, and ran up front for most of the race, leading 97 of 160 laps. On the last restart, he managed to pull away to a 1.8-second lead on Kevin Harvick to take the checkered flag in first place. For Truex, this snapped a 69 race winless streak, and was also the fourth straight points race in which he led the most laps. It was the second win for Furniture Row Racing and the first for crew chief Cole Pearn. It is considered by many to be the most popular victory in years.

With a third-place finish in a rain shortened Michigan race, Truex became the first driver since Richard Petty in 1969 to start a Cup season with 14 top-10 finishes through the first 15 races. At Sonoma, Truex was running in the top 20 until shortly after the first restart, when David Ragan turned him in the esses, which saw Truex crash into a jersey barrier, resulting in a 42nd-place finish. At Daytona, Truex was running up front until he was caught up in a crash on lap 106, relegating him to a 38th-place finish. Despite a string of bad races, Truex nonetheless made the Chase for the Sprint Cup and advanced through the first 2 rounds of the Chase. He also advanced to the final four at Homestead-Miami and went on to finish 4th in the final standings, a career best for both FRR and for Truex.

2016

Truex started the 2016 season with a runner-up finish in the Daytona 500, losing by 0.010 seconds to Denny Hamlin. Truex dominated the Texas 500, but lost after not making a pit stop with less than 39 laps to go. At Kansas in May, Truex won his first pole of the year and first pole in 147 races in Sprint Cup at Kansas for the running of the Go Bowling 400. Truex led a race high, 172 laps but a loose wheel relocated him to a 14th place finish.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * - Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NSCC	Pts
2004	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	1	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL	KAN	CLT	MAR	ATL	PHO	DAR	HOM	70th	119
2005				DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	DAR	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL	KAN	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	47th	589
2006				DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	19th	3673
2007				DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	11th	6164
2008				DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	15th	3839
2009	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing			DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	23rd	3503
2010	Michael Waltrip Racing	56	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	PHO	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	22nd	3916
2011				DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	KAN	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	18th	937
2012				DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	KAN	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	TAL	CLT	KAN	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	11th	2299
2013				DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	KAN	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	16th	998
2014	Furniture Row Racing	78	Chevy	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	DAR	RCH	TAL	KAN	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	24th	857
2015				DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	MAR	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	KAN	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	CLT	KAN	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	4th	5032
2016			Toyota	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	MAR	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	KAN	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	BRI	MCH	DAR	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	CLT	KAN	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	-*	-*

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2005	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	10	34
2006			19	16
2007			13	29
2008			25	20
2009	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing		1	11
2010	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	14	6
2011			20	19
2012			26	12
2013			37	24
2014	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	2	43
2015			10	8
2016		Toyota	28	2

Nationwide Series

NASCAR Nationwide Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NNSC	Pts
2001	Truex Motorsports	56	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	KEN	MLW	GLN	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	PHO	CAR	HOM			133rd	49
2002	Phoenix Racing	1	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA	NZH	CLT																							65th	370
	Truex Motorsports	56	Chevy														DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR									HOM
		58																											RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	CAR	PHO
2003				DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	TAL	NSH	CAL							KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH													40th	1228
	Chance 2 Motorsports	81	Chevy										RCH	GTY	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH									BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN
	Stanton Barrett Motorsports	91	Chevy																											DOV
	Dale Earnhardt, Inc	8	Chevy																													CLT	MEM	ATL	PHO	CAR	HOM
2004	Chance 2 Motorsports	81	Chevy	DAY																																			1st	5173
		8			CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	GTY	RCH	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	PHO	DAR	HOM
2005				DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	NSH	BRI	TEX	PHO	TAL	DAR	RCH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	GTY	IRP	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	1st	4937
2006				DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW												DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	50th	835
	JR Motorsports	88	Chevy																		DAY	CHI	NHA	MAR	GTY	IRP	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH
2007	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	11	Chevy	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH								84th	370
		8																														DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM
2008				DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL																																100th	175
	JR Motorsports	5	Chevy					BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	MXC	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM
2009	Phoenix Racing	1	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	88th	265
2010	Diamond-Waltrip Racing	00	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	NSH	PHO	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	NSH	KEN	ROA	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL	RCH	DOV	KAN		CLT	GTY		PHO		51st	771
		99																															CAL			TEX		HOM

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	NCTC	Pts
2005	Billy Ballew Motorsports	15	Chevy	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	GTY	MFD	CLT	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW	KAN	KEN	MEM	IRP	NSH	BRI	RCH	NHA	LVS	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	77th	106
2006		51		DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	GTY	CLT	MFD	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW	KAN	KEN	MEM	IRP	NSH	BRI	NHA	LVS	TAL	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	85th	61

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

International Race of Champions

(key) (Bold - Pole position. * - Most laps led.)

International Race of Champions results
Year	Make	1	2	3	4	Pos.	Points
2005	Pontiac	DAY	TEX	RCH	ATL	2nd	68
2006		DAY	TEX	DAY	ATL	3rd	57

[ Source: Wikipedia ]