During his media availability Friday at Dover International Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. took time to address the latest venture of girlfriend Sherry Pollex.
Earlier this week on her 37th birthday, Pollex launched SherryStrong.org, a website dedicated to the awareness of Ovarian cancer.
Pollex, who has been with Truex since 2005, was diagnosed with Stage III Ovarian cancer in 2014 and battled the illness for 17 months before celebrating her last round of chemotherapy in January.
The website, which is decorated in the color teal, has multiple sections devoted to ways to stay healthy while living with the illness.
“Sherry is really excited about it, it’s really interactive and there’s going to be some things to help women understand what she dealt with and how to deal with it,” Truex said.”The OVA1 test is something that she’s really trying to get the word out about. Not a lot of people know about it and it’s an early detection test for ovarian cancer, it’s very important for women.”
The website is the latest effort by Pollex to spread the word about ovarian cancer and awareness of ways to raise money for research into it. Last July, Pollex addressed Congress while representing the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.
Pollex tweeted Friday that she will be speaking at an Ovarian cancer conference in Washington, D.C.
The Martin Truex Jr. Foundation is also behind the annual Catwalk for a Cause, an event that raises money for the Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“She’s the kind of person that thinks of others no matter what situation she’s in and this is no different,” Truex said. “She’s been working hard on (the website) for quite a while and this is something she’s really proud of. It will be interesting to see how many people she can help and hopefully really change the dynamic of how women are diagnosed.”
Last September in the Southern 500, the decals on Truex’s No. 78 car were teal colored in order to raise awareness about Ovarian cancer.
“Hopefully someday the teal ribbons will be out there in September and we’ll get the word out and spread the message,” Truex said. “Hopefully no one will have to go through what she did.”
