Martin Truex Jr. Dover 2 Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 56 NAPA Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. kicks off a week-long fundraising initiative in his home state of New Jersey before Sunday’s AAA 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway. Truex won the pole at Dover in May and the mile-oval is the scene of his lone Sprint Cup victory in June 2007. It’s a busy week of events before Dover:

On Tuesday fans are invited to the Martin Truex Jr. Fan Event at the Holiday Inn in Manahawkin, N.J. for an autograph session, dinner with Truex along with entertainment, raffle prizes and auction items.

Wednesday is the day for the third annual Martin Truex Jr. Foundation Golf Tournament presented by NAPA. This year’s tournament at the Sea Oaks Country Club in Little Egg Harbor Township, N.J. will feature 144 golfers including NAPA Racing’s crew chief Pat Tryson. The event will be followed by the 19th Hole Dinner Celebration presented Sea Watch International. The highlight of the dinner will be the unveiling of the first Martin Truex Jr. Foundation “Humanitarian of the Year Award.” Proceeds finance the Martin Truex Jr. Pediatric Unit at Southern Ocean County Hospital in N.J. and fund the Iredell County (N.C.) Backpack program at Troutman Elementary School.

QUOTES

MARTIN TRUEX JR. ON HIS FUNDRAISING EFFORTS: “I’m really proud of what my foundation has accomplished since Sherry and I launched it back in 2007. So far, we’ve raised more than $400,000 for a bunch of community programs. We’re getting ready to build a children’s wing at Southern Ocean County Hospital. It’s the local hospital where I was born. It’s going to be a really cool place where kids can go and get treated. This month, we’ve launched a backpack program for kids who go to the Troutman Elementary School in Troutman, N.C. We chose that school because it’s not far from where I live. Each Friday, kids who participate, will get a backpack filled with food. We heard stories about some of the kids coming into school saying they were hungry and didn’t have much to eat on the weekends.”

ON RETURNING TO DOVER: “It’s a track that has been very good to me and my family. I won races there in both the Nationwide and Cup Series events. Back in May, I won the pole with my NAPA AUTO PARTS team and that was pretty cool. Now we want to get our first win there as a new team.

“Since the first time I took a lap on it, I have loved the place. When you find a track like that it usually makes it easier to be good there. I like the fact that the concrete is very unforgiving. The speeds are high and the banking makes it intimidating. It’s pretty fast. I find it to be a track that you really have to attack, but at the same time, respect that it is very unforgiving. You have to be willing to put it right there on the edge and have the discipline not to cross over it.”

NOTES OF INTEREST

Sunday marks Truex’s 181st NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

Truex owns nine starts at the 1.058-mile concrete oval. He’s earned one top-five, three top-10 and eight top-25 finishes. His average start is 19th and average finish is 15th.

Truex made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Dover driving for his father in 2001. He went on to win two more Nationwide races at the “Monster Mile” in 2004 and 2005.

Join the 23,000 fans who signed up for NAPA’s free Track Pass offer and listen to Truex’s in-car audio during the race. Register at www.nascar.com/napatruexscanner or www.NAPAonline.com. The offer is good through the remainder of the season.