SCENEDAILY
BY REA WHITE
ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Martin Truex Jr. was one of the breakout drivers of the 2007 season, earning his first career win while preparing to become the lead driver in the Dale Earnhardt Inc. arsenal in 2008.

Truex made the Chase For The Nextel Cup for the first time, in his second season of competition but gained more attention as the driver who would be heir apparent to the DEI legacy once teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced his intention to leave the organization at season's end.

Truex, a 27-year-old native of Mayetta, N.J., completed his second season of full-time competition in solid form. The two-time Busch Series champion, who had finished 19th in the standings in his rookie Cup campaign, finished 11th this season and won more than $5.9 million in purses.

During the offseason, SceneDaily is taking a look at the top 30 in 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup driver points, and here's how Truex's season unfolded:

By the numbers: Truex won a race and earned seven top-five and 14 top-20 finishes. Truex won his first career pole position, at Texas Motor Speedway, to earn a berth in the season-opening Shootout, and wound up 11th in the final standings.

Season highlights: His first career win, which came at Dover International Speedway, a track near his home town in New Jersey. After making the Chase, Truex closed the year on a strong note, with finishes of third, seventh and sixth.

Key setbacks: Truex incurred three engine failures over the course of the season, the hardest hits he took in the standings. Other than that, he managed to avoid major pitfalls and put together a solid performance week to week. In the opening months, he struggled to finish as well as he'd run, but that turned over the course of the year.

Newsworthy moment: Truex not only gained acclaim for his on-track success but also for staying with DEI when many expected him to follow Dale Earnhardt Jr. and leave to join another team. In staying, Truex became the driver with the longest history with the team and the unofficial spokesman for it. In addition, he announced the formation of the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation, which is dedicated to providing funds to nonprofit charitable organization focusing on improving the lives of children in need.

In his words: "Being in Daytona and not being in the Shootout is the worst feeling in the world. All your buddies are out there racing, and you are sitting there watching them on TV, just wishing. It is the first race of the year, and you want to be part of it. We are glad to be there finally. We have worked hard on it all year.

"The guys put a lot of effort in it in the last two months, and we have been real real close; we just haven't been able to get it done. I am real proud of the job my team has been able to do for me and glad to get it out of the way. Hopefully, we will win the Shootout, so we don't have to worry about it anymore."

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Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
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