NASCAR: Martin Truex Jr. set for long-awaited return
By Asher Fair
Martin Truex Jr. hasn’t competed in a NASCAR Xfinity Series race since 2010, but he is set to do so in this Saturday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Martin Truex Jr. is a two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion who has 13 victories in 103 career starts over 10 seasons. However, it has been more than a decade since he last competed in a race at stock car racing’s second highest level.
Truex, who won the titles in both of his seasons as a full-time driver in 2004 and 2005, made his 103rd Xfinity Series start in the 2010 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway and finished in 12th place.
His most recent victory came is 2006, which was his first season as a full-time Cup Series driver, when he won at Talladega Superspeedway.
Now after 11 seasons, the 40-year-old Mayetta, New Jersey native is set to return to the Xfinity Series.
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Truex is set to compete in this Saturday’s EchoPark 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He is set to compete in this 163-lap race around the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) oval in Hampton, Georgia behind the wheel of the #54 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is set to start in 18th place after the starting lineup was set by a formula.
The #54 Toyota is a car that is shared by several drivers throughout the season, including Cup Series teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin as well as Ty Gibbs, Ty Dillon and a driver or drivers TBD.
Truex has just two career Xfinity Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with one coming in 2004 and one coming in 2005. He finished in ninth place in 2004 and 10th in 2005.
In the Cup Series, he has made 22 career starts at the track and recorded five top five finishes and 10 top 10 finishes with an average finish of 16.3. He has finished in the top 10 in his last six and eight of his last nine starts at the track, however, and recorded a career-high finish of second place there in 2019 before finishing in third in 2020.
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Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 5:00 p.m. ET tomorrow evening for the live broadcast of the EchoPark 250 from Atlanta Motor Speedway.