A Great Life Lesson from Martin Truex, Jr. For Everyone

After winning the first race in the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup on Sunday, Martin Truex Jr. humbly answered a question regarding a comment that Furniture Row team owner Barney Visser made a few minutes earlier in the media center. 
 
Visser was asked about the success the team is having in 2016 with three wins, six top-five’s and 13 top-ten finishes in 27 starts, and whether or not he was living a dream. 
 
“Yeah, I do feel like I'm living a dream.  But that's why we do it,” Visser said.  “Most of the other things that I've done in life have been a little bit like this, but nothing right to the very top of the best racing in the world here, very exciting.”

Visser then made this statement.

“I have to thank Toyota and Martin.  Like I said, I think he's pure athlete.  He drove for a little bit less this year than I think a lot of the drivers in his class have, and he did it because he wanted to be here.  I can't thank him enough for all that.”

When Truex took to the stage, Kenny Bruce of NASCAR.com asked Truex about Visser’s comment of driving for a little bit less this year.

“It's not something I normally talk about.  Since he brought it up...Barney has put a lot into his race team over the years obviously.  Seeing Furniture Row on that racecar each and every year, that's Barney's racecar and Barney is the one funding it,” Truex explained.  “He had to change some things in the way he was running his race team.  He asked me if I would kind of not take the hit, but be the one that took a little bit of a hit for the team to make sure we could keep the competition up and make sure we could continue to get the things we needed to be competitive and win races and hopefully go after a championship.

“There were other opportunities that were out there.  I believe this is the best team I've ever had.  This is my best opportunity to win races.  We've proven that.  It's my best opportunity, and really only my second opportunity, since last year, to go for a championship.  That wasn't something I was willing to get rid of or throw away.  I made the commitment to Barney we were going to do it, we were going to work together and make it work for everybody.”

In an era where fans only read or hear about the money that an athlete makes, along with questioning their loyalty to a team, stories like Truex’s typically don’t make headlines.  But they need to be told more and more.
Martin Truex Jr.’s Cup career can easily be classified as a roller coaster ride.  But now those twists and turns and slow uphill climbs are now smoothing out to a rocket ride to the top of the Chase ladder. 
 
And it’s not just what is happening on track but off the track as well as he continues to stand alongside his longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex and her battle with ovarian cancer. 

What we all are seeing now is a driver who is well grounded in all aspects of his life allowing him to focus on nine more weeks to bring home a NASCAR Sprint Cup title for everyone that has made an impact on his life.

Winning at Chicagoland Speedway is a good way to start that goal.

September is both childhood cancer awareness month along with ovarian cancer awareness month.  You can learn more by reading Sherry’s message at:
http://www.sherrystrong.org/2016/09/i-need-you-this-september/