NASCAR driver search: Martin Truex, Jr.

I just decided to follow the 2014 Nascar season, beginning with the Daytona 500. It will be tough, as there are 36 races in a season. My first job is to pick a driver to root for. I asked my friend Bob, who is a rabid F1 and Nascar fan, to suggest someone who is like Nick Heidfeld-- quiet, journeyman, quick, drives for a second-tier team. His first suggestion was Martin Truex.

Truex is 33 and drives a Chevy SS for Furniture Row Racing. Most teams are based in North Carolina, but Furniture Row is based in Colorado. The team has competed in 163 races since 2005 and has won one race and clinched the pole twice. It sounds kind of like Sauber-BMW (which was based in Switzerland rather than England).

Truex has been racing full time in the Sprint Cup Series (the top Nascar series) since 2006. He has won just two races-- once in 2007 and once last year, in Sonoma. That's a 218-race winless streak. Sounds very Heidfeld-esque. Sonoma and Watkins Glen, by the way, are the only two road courses on the calendar. The 34 other races are on ovals.