Younger Truex longs for opportunity Martin thinks brother Ryan has makeup to succeed
During a test at Kansas Speedway two years ago, Martin Truex Jr. summoned brother Ryan to the No. 78 car.
Martin was in his first year driving for Furniture Row Racing and Ryan, 12 years younger, was a BK Racing driver.
“I said, ‘Here, jump in my car,’ ” Martin said.
So Ryan did. He could barely get the gas pedal down to the floor — Martin is much taller — but Ryan went out and immediately recorded lap times within two-tenths of a second of Martin’s.
It would have been further evidence that Ryan has the skills and makeup to be a Sprint Cup Series driver, except Martin didn’t need it. He already knew.
“He has the talent,” Martin told USA TODAY Sports. “He’s just got to catch a break.”
As Martin, 36, has enjoyed his best season — four wins, three poles, nearly 1,600 laps led — Ryan has continued to struggle to find a foothold in the sport at 24.
The younger Truex has driven for 10 teams across all three of NASCAR’s national series (making 80 total starts) and this year is running a part-time schedule for the fledgling Hattori Racing Enterprises team in the Camping World Truck Series.
The brothers will race at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, but in different series and with different goals.
Martin is fighting to make the eight-driver cut and advance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, in search of his first title at NASCAR’s top level. Ryan is fighting to get noticed. He thinks he’s capable of racing with Martin in Sprint Cup — and winning — but he can’t prove himself unless he gets funding to provide cars capable of winning in the lower ranks.
It’s a problem facing many young, talented drivers in today’s NASCAR — and Ryan says the wait has been frustrating.
“I know I can do what Erik Jones does, what Chase Elliott does,” Ryan told USA TODAY Sports over a recent lunch. “I’ve raced with them. I just need that sponsor where I can put together a deal to go compete for a championship.
“I know I can win races if I’ve got the equipment, but I need to show that to everybody else.”
Ryan got a later start to his career than most of today’s drivers. Despite hanging around the shop as his brother built a career, Ryan’s interest in racing didn’t start until he was 12. It then took him two years to persuade his father to let him race. (Ryan’s parents thought one of their sons driving a race car was enough.)
At 14, Ryan finally got to try a few entry-level Bandolero races; he started running Legend cars, one step up, at 15.
His talent was immediately apparent. Within two years, he was racing in the K&N East Series and won back-to-back championships. At 18, he made his first Xfinity Series start.
“He started racing, and it was like he’d done it his whole life,” Martin said. “I guess people thought he wasn’t interested (as a kid), but he was apparently paying attention.”
But as quickly as Ryan learned the cars, he also learned about the heartbreaks. During the search for funding, he twice had the rug pulled out from underneath him when a deal fell apart just before the season began.
One instance was particularly painful: Ryan had a two-year deal with a good Xfinity Series team in place starting with the 2013 season, but it crumbled. Business manager Todd Moore told USA TODAY Sports all the contract needed was signatures, but the sponsor balked at the last minute.
“I’ve literally got a future superstar, and we’ve just struggled finding the right level of funding to get him into a top ride,” Moore said.
On most days, Ryan is unflinchingly determined to keep pushing forward. He is at the racetrack almost every weekend — whether he’s racing or not. The idea is to be present and stay relevant to team owners who might have an opening.
“If I see Joe Gibbs or Richard Childress, I stop and talk to them every time just to say, ‘Hey, I’m here,’ ” Ryan said. “You never know who you’re going to meet at the track. You might meet the CEO of your future sponsor. But you do know if you’re not there, nothing is going to happen.”
But there are frustrating times. He wonders what would have happened if he’d won a 2012 Xfinity Series race at Dover International Speedway, when he led 43 laps and was passed by Joey Logano with six laps to go. And he sometimes ponders whether he’s wasting valuable years of his life chasing a dream.
Those thoughts, though, quickly turn into motivation.
“I just feel like I’m too close and I’ve done too much to give up on it now,” he said. “Especially seeing Martin’s success and seeing the reward of sticking it out. It makes me want to work that much harder to go after it.”
Can the attention Martin has been getting for his recent success trickle down to his brother? Moore, who also manages Martin’s career, thinks so.
“Martin’s success is definitely helping,” Moore said. “Hopefully that will continue and at some point soon we’ll have somebody who believes in (Ryan) like I do.”
Ryan considers Martin to be more like a second father to him than a brother. The two will text about setups and how their cars are handling, but Ryan said his brother “tries to let me do my own thing and learn a lot on my own” when it comes to navigating life outside the track.
But Martin, who has faced plenty of adversity in his career, is always there to provide moral support.
“When it comes to not getting down, he’s kind of the perfect cheerleader for all that — because he’s dealt with it for so long,” Ryan said. “His career looked like it was over three years ago. Everyone was like, ‘All right, he’s done.’ … For him to overcome all that, that’s so rewarding. And that’s how I want to feel someday: I will have come back from the dead.”
Martin says the brothers have different interests and hobbies, but they’ve found common ground when it comes to racing.
“Our attitude, our demeanor, our drive, our passion for racing is exactly the same,” he said. “That’s the one thing I’ve learned about him through all this: He’s never going to give up.
“If he wants something, he’s going to fight like hell until he gets it. And that’s probably what I’m most proud of him for.”