Martin Truex Jr first won a huge award on the track, and now he's won a big one off it


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Martin Truex Jr. had himself one heck of a season, but his winning ways have continued into the off-season.

In addition to celebrating his first NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series championship, Truex and his girlfriend Sherry Pollex were presented with the NMPA Myers Brother Award, according to popularspeed.com. The awards are a tradition that honors drivers and team members.

RELATED: If Martin Truex's first acts as champion are any indication, NASCAR couldn't ask for a better one

The award recognizes individuals and/or groups who have provided outstanding contributions to the sport of stock car racing and is determined by a vote of the NMPA membership. The annual award has been handed out since 1958.

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"I did not expect this at all," said Pollex on the awards stage. "I'm about to cry. It's been a crazy year for both of us, both personally and professionally, with my cancer."

Pollex was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2014 and has been battling it ever since.

In addition to the success Truex has seen on the course, the two of them have been quite the philanthropists. Truex and Pollex host a fashion show, titled Catwalk for a Cause, that sees childhood and teenagers who have beaten or continue to fight cancer walk alongside a celebrity. The show raised more than $500,000 this year in its eighth annual edition.

In addition to the fashion show, the couple launched "Drive for Teal & Gold" in 2016. Fellow competitors run steering wheels featuring both colors during the month of September. At the end of the month, they are then auctioned off, with the funds benefiting ovarian and childhood cancer efforts.

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"This is definitely an unbelievable honor to receive this award," said Truex. "We definitely didn't see it coming, did not expect it.

"I think Sherry and I have been very fortunate in our lives to have all the things that we needed - great families, great parents that raised us right and taught us right from wrong," added Truex. "I think they probably deserve a lot of credit for us being who we are, and being able to give back and help people as being apart of this sport. It's who we are, and we've learned so much from everybody."

Truex was also presented with a 24-carat 1/12th scale car from Goodyear in recognition of his Cup Series championship. In addition hewon the Sunoco Diamond Performance Award and American Ethanol Award.

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