Chance 2 Motorsports is a continuation of what Dale Jr’s dad started in the mid-1990s when he and Teresa formed Chance Motorsports for Kerry, Kelley and Dale Jr. to race Late Models in the Carolinas .

The new team co-owned by Teresa Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. showed they meant business right from the start. They won their first race together at Richmond International Raceway with Dale Jr. behind the wheel in 2002.

The team’s second outing was Feb. 2003 with Oreo/Ritz Crackers on board was the Busch Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway. Dale Jr. handily won the race after starting second. Several other drivers took turns driving for Chance 2 throughout the year, but none had the measure of success Dale Jr. did in his car. The three times he crawled behind the wheel, he ended up parked in Victory Lane .

Martin Truex, Jr. made his first start for the Chance 2 at Richmond International Raceway in May. He qualified the No. 81 Chevy sixth and was a top-10 and top-five contender for much of the race. He even led the field once for 11 laps. A mechanical problem knocked him out of the race with less than 50 of the 250 laps remaining. Thus, he registered a 31st-place finish in his Chance 2 debut.

From there, Martin really started to show his abilities in several races. He was a top-five contender at Dover until a late-race spin. He earned a top-10 at Bristol and closed the season out with two, consecutive second-place finishes.

In 2004, the team announced it would race the full season and contend for a Busch Series championship. When the season started, not many people knew who Martin Truex, Jr. was – but it didn’t last long.

He started the season by winning the Bud Pole Award at Daytona and followed it up with his first victory just four races later at Bristol Motor Speedway. Martin and the Chance 2 would finish the year with seven poles, six trips to Victory Lane and the most coveted prize of all – the Busch Series Championship.

In the fall of 2004, Bass Pro Shops went from a part-time primary sponsor to full time giving the Chance 2 team all the backing they need to repeat as champions. Martin, Bono and the whole team will be back bigger and better in 2005 as they look to go back-to-back in their championship quest.