Danica Patrick Has Made Her Feelings About Martin Truex Jr. Crystal Clear

When Martin Truex Jr. issued a statement regarding the death of his longtime girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, a fixture in the NASCAR community, it drew the ire of Danica Patrick. Pollex became known not only for attending Truex's races, but for her charitable work on the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation. In 2014, Pollex was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which led to her launching the Sherry Strong Foundation. Those charitable efforts led to the couple being joint recipients of the National Motorsports Press Association's Myers Brothers Award in 2017, awarded for their outstanding contributions to stock racing.

Unfortunately, their relationship came to an end in January — after being together since 2005. Truex announced the split on his Instagram Stories at the time. "Sherry and I have made the decision to end our relationship. I will continue supporting Sherry moving forward," he wrote.

Later that year, tragedy struck as Pollex died from cancer on September 17. Even though they were no longer a couple, the NASCAR racer posted a statement about her death. "Sherry's passion for making a difference in the lives of others was inspiring to everyone," he posted to his Instagram Stories on September 18. "Through her tireless charity work for so many years ... [she helped] countless families who are battling ovarian and childhood cancer," Truex wrote. That statement on Pollex's death rubbed Danica Patrick the wrong way. The former NASCAR racer took to social media to let Truex know how she felt, and that caused major backlash from racing fans.

Danica Patrick blasted Martin Truex Jr. for his statement following the death of his ex-girlfriend, Sherry Pollex. Apparently, Patrick felt that Truex's words felt disingenuous. "But this is the most insensitive disconnected statement from a guy that I have never liked," she wrote on her Instagram Stories on September 18 while reposting Truex's statement. "I don't care what happened between them but this is as cold as it gets. A PR rep wrote this guaranteed. You're free from this now Sherry," Patrick harshly added.

Those words didn't go unnoticed by NASCAR fans, and Patrick received serious blowback. "Danica Patrick's post on her Instagram story is classless and disgusting," one disgruntled fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "Danica Patrick is f***ing insufferable man, what a weird thing to stick your nose into," another added. Another fan wrote how Truex was in an unenviable spot to comment on the death of a longtime partner he was no longer dating. 

Days after Pollex's death, NASCAR announced in an Instagram post on September 22 that cars racing that weekend would have a special teal-colored ribbon decal to honor Pollex. Fans showed up in the comment section to pile on Patrick for her comments. "I personally don't care why they broke up ... And Danica Patrick can stick it where the sun don't shine," one Instagram user wrote. In the past, Patrick had shown support for Pollex following her diagnosis.

When Danica Patrick was still a NASCAR racer, one of her major sponsors, GoDaddy, had a Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign. While speaking about the fundraising initiative for the campaign in October 2015, Patrick mentioned Sherry Pollex — who had been diagnosed with cancer in 2014. "I come back to Sherry [Pollex] and I come back to her getting ovarian cancer. People don't know about that one," Patrick told USA Today while discussing raising awareness for cancer in women.

A year earlier, in 2014, Patrick was involved in a separate NASCAR-centric cancer fundraiser. Patrick donated her driving gloves to Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2014. Earnhardt was auctioning off the gloves of drivers for his own charitable foundation, according to Fox Sports. Money raised was being donated to the NASCAR Breast Cancer Foundation. Earnhardt had also auctioned off his own racing gloves, and Pollex helped choose which charity would receive the funds.

Although she fully supported Pollex, there could have been tension between Patrick and Martin Truex Jr. from when she was still a part of NASCAR. Near the tail end of Patrick's racing career, a study showed that she was the most talked about racer during the off-season in 2018, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Even though Truex had dominated the NASCAR standings, he was a distant second to Patrick in media and fan discourse. At the time, Patrick was not only deliberating her future in the sport, but she was also romantically linked to Aaron Rodgers.