“He’s one of the most naturally gifted drivers that our series has seen in quite some time,” said Denny Hamlin about former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr., praising the latter on his abilities behind the wheel.
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The #11 Toyota driver, who continues to challenge for the ultimate prize in NASCAR, has always been vocal about how his teammates have made him a better driver at Coach Gibbs’ racing outfit over the years. The Virginia native had similar words for the now-retired Truex Jr., where Hamlin acknowledged the challenge the former #19 driver brought to the table.
“I think he’s so underrated as far as the natural ability to drive a car fast. I have to work tremendously hard to run the speed Martin Truex runs. I have to work really hard to keep up with him,” said Hamlin in a past interview.
We've got @MartinTruex_Jr and @dennyhamlin doing all they can for the top spot. 💪 pic.twitter.com/T56lTTtjO4
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 27, 2022
Truex Jr.’s immense driving prowess was also displayed on short tracks, opined Hamlin. In typical fashion, one had to look through the outer layers to truly appreciate what the New Jersey native could achieve behind the wheel.
“For the longest time you always heard about Martin Truex not winning on short tracks, but he challenged me on short tracks for a greater part of a decade. He didn’t get the wins, like, we saw when he lost to shit at Richmond because he had five races at Richmond go that exact same way.”
“He made me better on short tracks,” Hamlin rounded off, showering his now former teammate with high praise at the time.
Truex Jr.’s illustrious career in statistics
Despite never clinching a Cup Series title at Coach Gibbs’ racing outfit ever, Truex Jr. had a great career with the powerhouse team. He drove for the outfit since the 2019 season, a year after he clinched his championship title at Furniture Row Racing in 2017.
The now 44-year-old made his full-time debut in the highest echelon of the sport in 2006 with Dale Earnhardt Inc., moving on to Michael Waltrip Racing and subsequently to Furniture Row in the future.
Out of 692 career starts till date, Truex Jr. has managed to visit victory lane 34 times, with an average finishing position of 15.27 throughout the years. Despite his 75 retirements, Martin has also managed to clinch 146 top 5 and 290 top 10 finishes in the sport, along with the ever-elusive championship title.
With the 2025 season approaching fast, NASCAR fans should expect to see him participate in crown jewel events of the sport such as the Daytona 500, as he has already hinted towards in the past.
