"I just blacked out": Martin Truex Jr.'s brother Ryan Truex reminisces on maiden NASCAR Xfinity victory at Dover Motor Speedway

Dover Motor Speedway last year became the venue for Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr.'s younger brother Ryan Truex to prove his worth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Following his brother's footsteps by racing for Coach Gibbs's junior stock car racing effort, Ryan clinched his first-ever victory in the junior nationwide series last year at 'The Monster Mile'.

Looking back at his part-time appearance with the Toyota-back team, Ryan Truex fondly recalled an event that gave him confidence in his machinery from the get-go. He spoke about his experience on track and told NASCAR.com:

"I kept passing cars and once I got towards the front, I felt, 'This thing is pretty good.' Once I took the lead, that’s when it clicked to, 'This is a car that is good enough to win.' From that point, my sole focus was to stay in control of the race. Once you lose control and lose clean air, it’s so hard to make that back up. I think we could have with how good the car was, but my goal from then on was no mistakes."

Martin Truex Jr.'s younger brother also touched on what it felt like giving interviews after his maiden win in NASCAR's junior nationwide series. He said:

"I don’t even remember my interview on the frontstretch. I feel like I just blacked out and all the things that I’ve wanted to say over the years, I totally forgot all of them and said whatever came to mind."

It remains to be seen if either of the Truex brothers can manage a trip to victory lane this weekend at 'The Monster Mile'.

Martin Truex Jr. elaborates on the pitfalls of being a NASCAR driver

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. is one character who is strictly dedicated to his job at hand while he is at the track, and nothing else. The #19 Toyota Camry XSE driver has been regarded as one of the most dedicated yet no-nonsense kind of person in the field in modern-day NASCAR.

In a recent interview with Jeff Gluck from The Athletic, Truex Jr. let this part of his personality shine through as he spoke about the difficulties of being a Cup Series driver. He said:

"Something people don’t understand is it’s not all the glitz and glamour. And it’s not all as incredibly awesome as everybody thinks it is to be a driver. It’s a lot of work. It’s stressful. It’s tough. You’re under a microscope all the time."

Touching on the constant scrutiny a modern-day driver is at all times, Martin Truex Jr. aimed to bring the flip side of the equation of being a driver in the sport. He will be seen racing this weekend at Dover Motor Speedway during the 2024 Wurth 400 this Sunday.