Truex steps into spotlight as Earnhardt's exit looms

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- As recently as three weeks ago, he was a frustrated and unheralded driver who was completely overshadowed even on his own team. Now he's a winner on NASCAR's premier circuit, and on the brink of becoming the public face of Dale Earnhardt Inc.

How things have changed in such a short time for Martin Truex Jr. Weeks of failures and unfulfilled promise came to an end when he dominated the rain-delayed event at Dover International Speedway on June 4. A third-place finish last Sunday at Pocono vaulted him into contention for a Chase berth. And when Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced his intention to leave the organization his late father founded, this often overlooked, sometimes anonymous 26-year-old moved to the brink of becoming the public face of one of the most popular teams in NASCAR.

"I think a leader is someone who just does it naturally, who is not asked to be the leader. That's what Martin has done," said Richie Gilmore, vice president for motorsports at DEI. "No one has come right out and said, 'Junior is leaving, you've got to be our leader.' He's done it naturally. He's been in the shop, he's been around the cars, he's at the racetrack. He's just done it naturally. To step up to another level and be that leader, I think he's a guy who can do that for us."

DEI still has to sign another driver for next season, and may ink someone like Kyle Busch -- right now, the team's No. 1 target -- with a more impressive resume than Truex. But the performances turned in by the New Jersey native in the weeks since Earnhardt's initial announcement have allayed some concerns about the organization's ability to compete without its current top driver. Truex has maintained all along that the team can not only survive, but thrive without Earnhardt. A few weeks ago, comments like those were dismissed as remarks made by a young and relatively unproven driver.

Not any more. His results in the past two races have backed up his words.

"I think it pretty much should hush everybody up," said Truex, who will start eighth in Sunday's event at Michigan International Speedway. "It should squash all that. They're working harder than they ever have to get everything right, to get the right people in place, to make our cars better. There's no reason why 42 other teams can make it out here without Junior, and we can't. I love Junior to death. He's like a brother to me. He's been a great friend. I'm real excited for him with what he's got going on right now. But we can do it."

And Earnhardt is glad to see it. "I think that you know, it hurts ... those guys' pride when the remarks were made about DEI not being able to continue without me as a driver there," he said. "And for them to go out and make a statement like they have over the last couple of weeks, I think it helps them and gives them a lot of confidence and gives the rest of the employees that are not going to the racetrack a lot of confidence." (Continued)