Truex reflects on how far he’s come ahead of 20th Daytona 500 start

Martin Truex Jr. remembers the details of his first trip to Daytona International Speedway as if it were yesterday, and marvels at how different his life was back then.

How much time has flown and how different things are — for himself and for NASCAR — is why Truex is in disbelief that he is about to make his 20th start in the Daytona 500. The first came when he qualified a third entry for Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2006. It was his second year of running a limited schedule for the company.

“It’s changed drastically, as you could imagine,” Truex said of his life and career. “When I first got to come down here, I still couldn’t believe I was getting the opportunity. Basically, up until ’03, I never once expected or was really 100% working toward being a driver for a living. I was working — I was racing for fun, I was racing as something … I just did what I did.”

At the time, Truex was a full-time driver for Chance 2 Motorsports in what is now the Xfinity Series. A start in the Daytona 500 was only the second time he’d competed in a NASCAR national series race at the speedway.

“I honestly was shocked when I got a call to come test a car for DEI for Chance 2,” continued Truex. “And then when I got here, I was like, ‘Damn, I can’t believe I’m here.’ I’d go in the hauler to test for the first time and my firesuit’s hanging up and I’m like, ‘I didn’t have to take that to the dry cleaners.’ That’s the kind of things I thought when I first came.

“I just remember I didn’t have to work on the car. I didn’t have to do anything but show up and drive it. It didn’t make any sense. So that’s how much has changed. It’s crazy. And now, obviously, I come here, and the only thing I want to do is win. That’s the only thing that matters. I don’t have to do anything else but come here and try to win.”

Truex has not won the Daytona 500 in 19 tries. The closest he came was inches — or one-hundredth of a second — to Toyota teammate Denny Hamlin in 2016. It’s the closest finish in Daytona 500 history.