As far as Martin Truex Jr. is concerned, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s departure from Dale Earnhardt Inc. is his gain.
Not that he’s happy to see his teammate leave after this season, but Truex anticipates doors opening wider for him and a new role developing as a team leader.
“Well, it gives us something to shoot for,” Truex said. “I think it lights a fire under everybody’s butt around here saying, ‘Look, we’ve got something to prove. Dale Jr. didn’t think we were good enough. Now go out there and win championships.’
“We’ll just try even harder to do that now, just to prove him wrong and everybody else out there that thinks we can’t do it.”
Truex, in his second full NASCAR Nextel Cup season, is 16th in the standings, having improved four spots the past four weeks. This weekend, the series heads to 1-mile Dover (Del.) International Raceway, located about 90 miles from his hometown of Mayetta, N.J.
Although DEI officials are looking for a driver to replace Earnhardt – Roush Racing driver Greg Biffle reportedly is among the candidates – Truex said he believes he will occupy the role of team leader.
He has had conversations with DEI officials about how to better get his name out into the public and how to draw more sponsors to the team.
“I think it will kind of put me a little bit more in the spotlight,” Truex said. “I think I’ll have more opportunities with some sponsors coming into DEI working with me instead of everybody wanting to come here and work with Dale Jr.
“It’s kind of been a little difficult at times playing second fiddle to him. So it will open some doors for me, give me some new opportunities, which I look forward to.”
In the weeks since Earnhardt announced his plans to leave DEI for a destination yet unknown, Truex said he has fielded plenty of questions about the decision, but it hasn’t affected his approach to racing.
“I’m going out there, working hard, trying to get better each week,” said Truex, 26, who has three top-10 finishes this year. “Our race team’s doing a great job. That’s the biggest thing I look at, and things are looking good. With a little bit of luck, we could be sitting here with two or three wins already. We’re excited about the rest of the year and the future here at DEI.”
Truex said it has been business as usual at DEI. And while he and Earnhardt have had numerous conversations, they have managed to avoid discussing his decision to leave the company his late father and stepmother, Teresa, built.
“We haven’t talked about it a bit,” Truex said. “Business is business. We’re great friends. We’ll continue to be.”
Points leaders11D
