When Martin Truex Jr. looks at his younger brother it's like looking into a mirror only 12 years earlier.

A younger version of himself, 16-year-old Ryan Truex has the same dark features signature to the Truex lineage, he's almost always seen with a placid expression and he's quiet like Martin, always laid back.

“

Ryan is every bit as good as Martin [Jr.] was at this same point in his career. What I have to keep telling myself is that he's only 16.

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MARTIN TRUEX

"I'm pretty much a little version of him, at least that's what everyone tells me," said Ryan, well on his way to accompanying big brother in the NASCAR ranks.

Their father, Martin Truex, says Ryan is a near photocopy of his first-born Martin Jr., and he's ready to roll.

"Ryan is every bit as good as Martin was at this same point in his career," the elder Truex said. "What I have to keep telling myself is that he's only 16. He's not 20-something. Sometimes I have to bite my tongue so I don't treat him like he's 25 years old."

Mature beyond their years. That's the quality required for youngsters these days looking to be future stars in NASCAR.

Maturity as well as humility both go a long way, Ryan believes. And it's a quality him and his older brother possess.

After Ryan made his recent NASCAR Camping World Series East debut at Stafford Motor Speedway, replacing Jeffrey Earnhardt in the Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet, he called his big brother to apprise him of his near top-10 finish (results).

"I texted him after the race, he said, 'cool,'" Ryan recalled. "Everyone was pretty happy that I didn't tear up the car and that I kept my head on my shoulders, but Martin [Jr.] tries not to give me a big head or tell me I'm the best out there. He keeps me hungry."

Martin Jr. gets the philosophy honest. It's the same strategy used on him by his father when Martin Jr. was coming up through the Camping World Series and then went on to win back-to-back championships in the Nationwide Series.

Ryan hopes to follow those accomplishments and then some. (Continued)