Truex comfortable in leadership role at DEI
by REA WHITE, Special to FOXSports.com
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| Rea White (NASCAR Scene) |
He then earned even more attention by proving to be one of NASCAR's top young talents, winning two Busch Series championships before moving into the Sprint Cup Series ranks full time in 2006. After a season in which he endured some typical rookie struggles, Truex once more hit his stride and became a championship contender in his sophomore season.
Now, he's taken on even more of a high-profile role. Though only 27 and in his third full season at the Cup level, Truex finds himself both a student and a teacher in the sport. Depending on the Dale Earnhardt Inc. organization's lineup week to week, he can be one or both at any time.
When Mark Martin is his teammate, Truex studies and listens and learns from the veteran, trying to gain an even greater understanding of the nuances of the sport. But when Martin takes a weekend off — he's competing in 24 points races this season — Truex finds himself shifting gears and helping teach Aric Almirola the same lessons.
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When Martin is absent, Truex is the senior member of the four-team organization, the veteran of the group that also includes second-year driver Paul Menard and Regan Smith. He still retains parts of that role when Martin is at the track, growing in impact and stature within the DEI team that now rests as much on his shoulders as anyone else's.
While the role might be a stretch or a distraction for some, Truex seems to have slipped into it smoothly. He's become his own man and is showing just how much of a leader he can be in the sport in years to come.
As he prepared to enter 2008, after endless questions about the loss of Dale Earnhardt Jr. within the organization and his new role as the "face of DEI," Truex seemed to have hit his stride.
"This is definitely the most comfortable I have been in my own shoes since I started racing in the Nationwide Series," he said prior to the season. "I don't know why, just it is. I feel good about it."
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Part of that was that his team, which finished 11th in the standings last season, entered the year intact. Part of it, though, was just finding his own spot in NASCAR.
"I am real confident, real comfortable," he says. "I put pressure on myself, but I don't feel a whole lot from the outside. I feel like this is the year I can go out and do what I feel is right, do the best job I can and, in the end, I think everything is going to work out for us."
So far, things are going well. Truex is 12th in the standings with a top finish of third this season. As important as that obviously is, it's perhaps as crucial to DEI that he help with the development of other drivers.
That's a role Truex relishes. He's worked with the 24-year-old Almirola this season and will help him with his 12 Cup races.
"It's really neat, it's fun," Truex says of the role. "It makes me proud to know that I can help people. It's exciting and new for me to know I've always had older drivers to look up to. Dale Jr. helped me the most throughout my career. People like him have done so much for my career and helped me ... it's cool to be able to give back and do the same thing.
"It's a great experience, it's very humbling."
He speaks highly of Almirola and his potential in the sport. Truex says he enjoys working with the up-and-coming driver and lists him as someone with "a lot of talent."
After testing together at Phoenix International Raceway, he had nothing but good things to say about the young man.
"He absorbed information better than any young guy I've ever seen," he says. "He was open to criticism, comments and help."
Yet, Truex doesn't take credit for other's success or allow people to overstate his role at DEI.
And don't talk about him being the team leader, either. He's quick to end talk about him not having a mentor as a teammate. Truex never lets someone leave out Martin -- or his impact on the DEI group.
"I've got Mark Martin," he says. "If there's anybody out there with more experience, you need to tell me who it is."
For his part, Martin downplays his role in that relationship -- at least in terms of giving advice. He sees in Truex a young man coming into his own in the sport, both in terms of competition and in other roles as well.
"Certainly Martin Truex Jr. doesn't need any of my help," Martin says. "He helps me some."
Rea White is a writer for NASCAR Scene, which is published weekly, 50 weeks per year. Visit www.scenedaily.com for more information. © 2007 Street & Smith Sports Group.
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