MARTIN TRUEX JR.
No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota
Dover International Speedway
CORNELIUS, N.C. — Before racing his No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota in this weekend’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. returns to his New Jersey hometown for a week filled with Foundation work. Since 2007, the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation has raised more than $500,000 for community initiatives such as feeding Iredell County (N.C.) kids through a backpack program, a special needs fund for children and their families at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte and building the Martin Truex Jr. Pediatric Care Center at Southern Ocean Medical Center in N.J.
· On Wednesday, Truex will meet fans at the Foundation’s second annual fan event at the Holiday Inn in Manahawkin, N.J. An autograph session, dinner, entertainment, raffle prizes and auction items make up the evening.
· On Thursday, he’ll play in the fourth annual MTJF Golf Tournament presented by NAPA AUTO PARTS at Sea Oaks Country Club in Little Egg Harbor Township, N.J. The 19th Hole Dinner Celebration presented by Sea Watch International will follow the tournament.
At Dover, Truex will focus on winning his fourth NASCAR race at the “Monster Mile.” The Mayetta, N.J. native owns two Nationwide and one Cup Series victories. He hopes to make it four this weekend and then invite as many friends and family as possible into victory lane.
Truex On Such An Important Week: “I always look forward to this week. We’ve been at this for four years now. I am so glad that I am able to give back. I know I am fortunate so it’s only right for me to do what I can and I especially want to help children in need. We’ve got two great events planned this week for the fans and my sponsors. On Wednesday night, I go to the town I grew up in, Manahawkin, for my fan event. Then I’m off to my golf tournament on Thursday. Both events are scheduled to have large turnouts and I appreciate it. They help raise money for all of our kids and projects we are involved in. It’s always a good time. I fully expect to bring a case of golf balls with me. It’s been a few months since I played with the NAPA guys at TPC Sawgrass. I actually golfed well so I am hoping to have a respectable showing in front of the hometown crowd and my sponsors like NAPA and AAA.
“I have a lot of family and friends who want to come over for the race. I always try to help get them in. I remember when I won the Sprint Cup race in 2007, we had about 30 people there and they all tried to get into victory lane. I had to keep telling the guards to let them in. Hopefully I’ll have that problem again on Sunday. Dover has been so good to me. Our NAPA Toyotas have always been fast there. I had a great run in the spring and I expect the same this time.”
NOTES
· Truex has scored the 11th most points of all drivers in the last 10 races.
· Sunday’s race marks Truex’s 218th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start. In 11 Cup starts at Dover, he has one victory (2007), one pole (2010) and four top-10 finishes.
· Truex on Trackside: The NAPA driver will be a featured guest on Friday night’s Trackside on SPEED. It airs at 7 p.m.
