Earnhardt Jr. to give Truex a Chance at RIR

RICHMOND, Va. -- Young Northeast stock car hopeful Martin Truex Jr. gets one of the biggest breaks of his career this weekend when he pilots Chance 2's No. 81 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Busch Series Hardee's 250 at Richmond International Raceway.

	Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Chance 2 co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he chose Truex, of Mayetta, N.J., because the second-generation driver had no preconceived notions or expectations for his new team.

"I haven't got a chance to really get to know Martin that well," Earnhardt said when he announced Truex would drive his car, which Earnhardt drove as the No. 8 to two Busch Series wins in as many starts this season. "(Chief engine builder) Richie Gilmore introduced me and told me I ought to take a look at him."

Truex, the 2002 Busch North Series Bud Pole champion, finished 11th in the standings but had six top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in 19 starts. He has three career Busch North victories in cars fielded by his father, a former Modified and Busch North race winner.

Truex has six career Busch Series starts over the last three seasons, all but one in family owned cars. His best finished, 15th, came this season at Nashville Superspeedway.

At one point, DEI and Chance 2 were looking at a variety of drivers, including two-time defending IRL champion Sam Hornish.

"We were looking at some other guys, I guess higher profile, more recognizable names," Earnhardt said. "It seemed like having an opportunity to work with Martin would be easier for our team -- myself included -- because Martin didn't carry much baggage with him.

"He's a young driver that really doesn't have the ego that a lot of these young drivers do today, so he's someone that's going to be easier to manage -- and even though I'm not in a position to be able to teach him a whole lot, he'll just be easier to work with.

"A lot of these guys would come in here and their expectations would be higher than ours would be of them."

Truex tested for the Richmond event.

"I feel really comfortable in the car," Truex said. "The biggest thing I have to learn is the tires. I have a little bit of experience running on these tires, so I'm probably one step ahead if I hadn't run any Busch races with my own stuff."

"Martin will come in with a good attitude and a good, humble personality and that will be easier to work with," Earnhardt said. "I'm not gonna say I can make a better driver out of Martin than I could out of Sam Hornish or somebody like that, but I just think under the circumstances as a new team we don't want to put ourselves in a position where we have to live up to this or that.

"So bringing Martin in there's no expectations, no hype. They can just do their job and have some fun and if it works out and he's a good little driver they got a future."

Earnhardt said earlier this year that Chance 2 plans to run Truex in as many as half a dozen Busch races this season.