Martin Truex Jr. is from Mayetta, N.J., only a couple hours' drive from Dover. More or less Dover is Truex's home track of sorts. But much of his attention has been focused on Mooresville, N.C., where he is heir to the throne at DEI.

With the departure of Dale Earnhardt Jr. after this season, second-year driver Truex will bear the load of the team. And he says he's ready.

Q: You've kind of followed the career path of Dale Earnhardt Jr., winning the Busch Series titles. You've been kind of strong. When you first got into the Nextel Cup Series, was he the guy you were looking at as kind of a mentor?

Truex: I would say yeah because, you know, he was my teammate and I was able to go to him for information. He kind of helped me along the way with anything I ever needed help with. So, yeah, he was my mentor, more or less.

Q: How has it been at DEI, knowing he's not going to be there next year?

Truex: To be honest with you, not really much has changed. We're still going ahead with all our plans, trying to make every department of the company stronger, trying to get our engines better, trying to get our engineering program better.

Things are business as usual really. The 8 team is working real hard, trying to get better each week. They've been running really strong. I don't really think much has changed in that.

Q: Have you talked to Dale about it?

Truex: Honestly, no. We haven't talked about it a bit. I actually spent quite a bit of time around him since then. It's kind of one of those things we don't talk about. Business is business. We're great friends. We'll continue to be. We don't really, for some reason, talk about it.

Q: When Dale Jr. was going through his contract negotiations, the fact you guys didn't talk about it, you had to avoid when other people were talking about it. Once Dale Jr. let his future be known, did that affect how much people talked to you about it and what your future would be now that it is known?

Truex: Yeah, I mean, I get a lot of questions about it obviously. Everybody wants to know what I think about it and all that. You know, I really don't think it affects me. Obviously I think it will open some new doors for me here at DEI. It will kind of put me a little bit more as a team leader, kind of being the No. 1 guy right now depending on who our teammate is next year.

You know, it doesn't really change much. I'm going out there, working hard, trying to get better each week. Our race team's doing a great job. That's the biggest thing I look at, is where we're at with our race team, and things are looking good. We're going forward, getting better each week. 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.

Q: What kind of opportunities do you think this opens up for you?

Truex: Well, I think it will kind of put me a little bit more in the limelight or spotlight, so to speak. 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 in that aspect, it will open some doors for me, give me some new opportunities, which I look forward to.

Q: Have you talked to the folks at DEI about stepping up, being the No. 1 guy?

Truex: We're working on that. We've kind of touched on it a little bit. We're going to sit down and talk about some stuff for the future, ways we can get my name out there and get DEI associated with some great companies for the future.

Junior leaving DEI

Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he will leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of this season.

• Complete Coverage, click here

Q: You said with Junior leaving DEI it might put you in more of a team leader situation. Sounds like that's a role you would feel comfortable in.

Truex: Yeah, I do. I mean, we've got great, great people all around here at DEI. I've always been behind all of them. They've always been behind me. That's one of the things that I've been so proud about since I started here, was since day one, nobody knew me here, they treated me like family, stood behind me a hundred percent. That's never changed. No matter if we run 20th or contending for wins, that's not changed. It feels good. I've always stood behind all these guys. I like to pat them on the back, I like to tell them how good they are when they do a good job.

I think I could fit in that role. I don't bash them when they make mistakes. I know everybody does that. I know there's room for improvement obviously. But we're doing all the right things. People are working hard. All you can do is pat them on the back and tell them to keep doing better.

Q: Everybody is talking about your role increasing. A lot of drivers say "I need to step up and be a leader." Do you feel now you need to be the quarterback, step up a bit as a leader on the team with Dale Jr. leaving?

Truex: Yeah, I think in a certain way I will have to. I don't think I have to go out there and tell them all how to do their job, tell them if they're doing it right or wrong. We've got people to do that.

As we get to running better, I think before the year is out we could maybe win a few races, make the Chase, do a lot of things that are good for the company, good for the people's morale around here. Dale Jr. leaves, but it's not over. People keep saying, "It's over, what are they going to do?" Dale Jr. is a great asset to the company, obviously, but we can go on, we can thrive, we can win races. To show them that will be a great step in that direction.

Just performing on the racetrack is the biggest thing. I think we're gaining on that each week.

Q: In a way, is it kind of an exciting thing? Does it add more inspiration to go out there?

Truex: Well, it gives us something to shoot for. 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." And if we do that, 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.

We'll wait and see what happens. I'm excited. I love my race team. They're doing a great job for me. That's the biggest thing. I look forward to it.

Q: Obviously as a driver, what do you feel like is on your shoulders? What do you need to improve to add to the team to get you to that point?

Truex: Just continue to work on our racecars and try to give them all the information I can about what we need to get better on. Just focus in on that, focus in on my racecars really, get them a little bit better. We're getting there, so ...

I don't think there's one thing that we need to fix. It's just real small things. Little things go a long way. Do a few things here and there, we'll be there right with them.