Is Martin Truex, Jr. the Greatest NASCAR Comeback Story? (He is)

He did it!

Twelve seasons after starting his roller coaster NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series career, Martin Truex Jr. has finally achieved his dream and the dream of so many other drivers before him by winning the Cup Series championship.

If you’ve been following Truex’s career like I have, then you know he was an unlikely choice for a top-tier driver as of just a few short seasons ago.

But he was dominant all year long, with eight wins to his name, having the most stage points throughout the season and leading the most laps. Nearly every race, you were guaranteed Truex was going to be in the mix at some point.

The one question people (well, at least me) have on their mind is whether or not Truex is the greatest comeback story in all of NASCAR. Let’s wind the clocks back a little.

After winning two consecutive championships in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Truex seemed poised for immediate success in the Cup Series, leading a strong rookie class in 2006 that also included Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson and J.J. Yeley among others.

However, Truex had a year plagued by bad finishes. He only amassed five top-10 finishes and finished his rookie campaign 19th in the points. Hamlin meanwhile scored two wins and a third-place points finish, and Bowyer had more than double the amount of top-10’s as Truex and finished 17th in the final standings.

It seemed like Truex was on his way after scoring his first victory at Dover in 2007 and qualifying for that year’s Chase playoffs, finishing 11th overall.

However, more mediocre performances for an ailing Dale Earnhardt, Inc., which included no wins and no more Chase playoff berths, led to him seeking new opportunities for Michael Waltrip Racing at the end of the 2009 season.

While Truex’s first two years piloting the No. 56 Napa Auto Parts Toyota yielded little success, things started to come together in 2012. While he failed to win a race that year, he managed to race his way into the Chase for just the second time in his career, once again finishing 11th.

The following year, victory lane beckoned for Truex again as he notched his second career win at Sonoma. At the same time, Clint Bowyer has managed to lock himself into a Chase playoff berth.

But then, controversy reared its ugly head.

I won’t get into the Richmond manipulation debacle allegedly orchestrated by MWR, but ultimately it led to Truex being the odd man out. Following his elimination from Chase contention, he was out of a ride once more at the end of the year.

From there, it seemed hopeless for Truex to find success again as he settled for Furniture Row Racing, a one-car, Midwestern team with only one victory to its name.

2014 was a dismal year for Truex as he finished a career-worst 24th in points and led only one lap the entire year (at Talladega). This happened one year after FRR finished 10th in the points with Kurt Busch.

However, 2015 seemed to bring on a new Martin Truex Jr., almost like a robotic upgrade. Truex 2.0 debuted in 2015 as he not only won his third career race at Pocono, but also finished in the top-10 a career-best 22 times and raced his way into the inaugural stage-based Chase playoff’s final four, finishing a career-best 4th in the final standings.

2016 saw more success as Truex won a season-best four races (he had just three career wins at that point) and clinched another playoff berth, all with the help of a new technical alliance forged with Joe Gibbs Racing. While his Chase run was shorter than the previous year’s (he finished 11th in the final standings), it was clear that 2014 was no fluke and Truex 2.0 was here to stay.

And that of course came full circle (or should I say, “full oval”) in 2017 as he became “the guy” by winning his first Cup Series championship, not only revitalizing his career, but also transforming Furniture Row Racing from a small-time operation to a top-tier championship team.

We’ve heard of great comeback stories in NASCAR lore such as Ernie Irvan coming back from near-death to victory lane again, Kyle Busch returning from injury to win his first championship in the same year. There are also rags-to-riches stories like Alan Kulwicki driving from Wisconsin in his pickup truck to being an upset champion.

However, Truex’s story is one of constant adversity and controversy. A “roller coaster career” was described for him at Homestead this past Sunday. While that may be accurate, it undercuts the low points in Truex’s career. Tack on longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex’s cancer diagnosis and recovery, and you have yourself a driver not only racing for himself, but also for a cause.

Whenever a driver is placed on a low-level, one-car team like Furniture Row Racing, it usually spells the end of championship chances. Unlike Irvan and Kyle Busch, who had strong, well-funded teams to work with for their comebacks, and Kulwicki, who experienced constant highs with his own team before his tragic death, Truex was at the whim of a team that never experienced such success in their business life and went through a slew of drivers trying to make ends meet, including Jimmy Spencer, Kenny Wallace, Scott Wimmer, Travis Kvapil and Joe Nemechek to name several.

This was a team that was simply trying to stay financially afloat before a then-lowly Truex came along. Sure, Kurt Busch’s top-10 effort in 2013 helped the team immensely, but you knew he wasn’t going to be on that team for long.

Fast-forward to today, and FRR has two rides, one with a champion.

Eight seasons after Truex’s rookie year, everyone had scratched him off as a contender, but he proved everyone (including myself) wrong, and I don’t see him slowing down anytime soon.

I say he is the greatest comeback story in NASCAR, and while some may disagree, we can all agree on one thing; by saying “Cheers to you, Martin! Congratulations.”