Martin Truex Jr's cell phone lights up after 1st Cup win
Old friends burn up Truex Jr's monthly minutes to wish him congratulations after Autism Speaks 400 Monday evening
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'My poor phone...was catching on fire it was ringing so much,' Truex said.
By Bob Pockrass / SceneDaily.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- In his second year of full-time racing, Truex - a two-time Busch Series champion - won the rain-delayed Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway on Monday.
"My poor phone, when I got home Monday night, was catching on fire it was ringing so much," Truex said. "That's probably the coolest part of all this is all the people that have congratulated us, said they were proud, said that it's been a long time overdue and things like that.
"I've heard from people I haven't heard from in five or six years. For all the guys in the garage, a lot of crew chiefs and the drivers and crew members have said congratulations and that means a lot to us. It's been a really neat week, but we're here back at the race track and focused on Pocono."
Truex will start third in the Pocono 500 on Sunday. He also has moved up to 12th in the points, thanks in part to Kurt Busch's 100-point penalty issued Friday.
He had entered the weekend in 13th. It's still a far cry from 38th in points, where he was after the second race of the season.
"Look where we're at now," Truex said. "We've had some tough luck throughout the first part of the season, but we've run really, really well each week with both cars and we're still getting better. The sky's the limit now."
What has the team feeling good in addition to just winning is the way Truex won the race. He led the most laps (216) after leading only 26 all season. This wasn't a fuel-mileage win or a race where the leaders wrecked.
"Everyone takes more pride in the fact that we led the most laps and we had the best car when we won the race instead of pulling one out on fuel mileage or pit strategy or something like that," Truex said. "I think it goes a long way."
Posted June 15, 2007 , 2:01 pm EST Last Updated June 30, 2007 , 12:04 pm EST
