“You can’t live in the past”: When Martin Truex Jr. accepted the unwanted reality after declining to leave DEI

Former Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was once featured in an interview in 2009 during the Talladega Superspeedway event where he opened up about his decision to stay with his struggling team, Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI). Truex Jr. highlighted that he accepted the challenging circumstances in the team at the moment.

Truex Jr. debuted in the Cup Series in 2004 with Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI), driving the #8 Chevy that year. In 2005, he was moved to the #1 Chevy and raced until 2009 under DEI's banner. During his 20-year stint in the Cup Series, he worked with numerous teams and secured 34 wins from 693 starts, winning the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series title while driving for Furniture Row Racing. Truex Jr. retired from full-time racing in the Cup Series after the 2024 season.

While DEI was struggling during the 2008 season, Martin Truex Jr. extended his contract by a year to help the team. But just three months later the team merged with Chip Ganassi Racing after DEI failed to land sponsorship to fully fund the team for the 2009 Cup Series season, and the merged team was renamed to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

Martin Truex Jr. pointed out in 2009 that his decision to stay with the team was based on his loyalty. While the NASCAR driver struggled through the merger, he refused to second-guess his decision and said:

“You can’t live in the past,” he said Friday at Talladega Superspeedway. I made the decision to stick with the team and try to work it out. You could say, ‘Oh man, I should have done this, should have that.’ But at the end of the day, I didn’t, so I’ve got to make it work.” (via NewYorkTimes.com)

The former DEI driver finished the 2009 season in 23rd place on the driver's standings. He only secured one top-five and six top-ten finishes in the season with five unfortunate DNFs.

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“It was kind of downhill”: Martin Truex Jr. recalled the time racing under Teresa Earnhardt led DEI

While Martin Truex Jr. debuted in the Cup Series in 2004 with Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI), the team was led by Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s widow, Teresa Earnhardt. Truex Jr. highlighted that his six-year stint with the team demanded a "lot of hard work" and resulted in "not a lot of success."

After the former JGR driver retired from the Cup Series, he was featured in an interview with Alex Weaver (host and reporter at SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). While fishing at a lake by the infield at Homestead-Miami Speedway Weaver asked Truex Jr. about his time with DEI, and he stated:

“Early on, it was not that difficult. It kind of came naturally, I guess. It happened really quickly as far as going to the Busch North Series and I had success early on there and the next thing you know...it wasn't that long...I'm getting a call to go test Dale Jr.'s car.” [00:21]

After parting ways with DEI, Martin Truex Jr. moved to Michael Waltrip Racing for the 2010 season and secured one race win during his stint with the team. Four seasons later, Truex Jr. joined Furniture Row Racing in 2014 and showcased a significant improvement in his performance. He also clinched a title win with the team.