BROOKLYN, Mich: Martin Truex Jr. is staying put.
On Saturday afternoon following NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Michigan International Speedway, Truex announced in his media scrum that he signed a contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing on Friday night.
For the past month or so, Truex has dodged the question on whether he would return to the seat of the No. 19 Toyota Camry next year and set sail into retirement, but Saturday’s confirmation will keep him at the Cup Series powerhouse for the sixth consecutive NASCAR Cup Series season.
“I’m coming back,” said Truex. “It felt like the right thing to do was to keep going. The more I thought about it, the more I was like – ‘don’t be stupid, go race another year and see how it goes.”
Truex said he was leaning towards returning to the Cup Series in the weeks leading up to extending his contract with JGR.
After a frustrating winless 2022 Cup Series season and finishing 17th in the championship standings, Truex and his James Small-led team have rebounded this year and steer into Sunday’s race in the Irish Hills with three wins, eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes and is the regular season points leader with four races remaining in the regular season.
“Honestly, I’ve been leaning that way for a couple of weeks, and I was like okay. I kept thinking about it and seeing if something changed and nothing changed, so I was like here we go, let’s do it.”
Truex said Small was happy about his driver’s decision.
“He was happy. I don’t know if all of the guys know yet. I’ve got to go tell them,” added Truex. “This is the first announcement. He was really excited. He was like – let’s go get them this year and next year and figure it out from there. He works really hard. He’s part of the reason I want to keep going. I feel like we can win every week, and I don’t see that going anywhere.”
When asked if it was important to make the decision before the Cup Series Playoffs begin next month at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Truex didn’t think it mattered.
“Honestly, I don’t think it would have mattered either way. With our team, I think with our guys – it doesn’t really matter. They would more worried about next year than anything, but I don’t think it would have affected this year.
“I think it’s more so for the team, Coach (Joe Gibbs) and all of our partners, so we can just put that out of the way and go back and button up next year’s plans. It’s pretty late in the season to be putting them in a spot where you keep them hanging. I think I did that as long as possible – not on purpose, but it is just how it worked out.”
Truex added that team owner Joe Gibbs was satisfied with his decision. “He’s thrilled,” Truex spoke. He’s a great guy to work for.”
Truex was right, Gibbs was thrilled.
“We’re really thrilled,” Gibbs said Saturday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway. “Johnny Morris and all those guys at Bass Pro are all excited about it, Auto Owners, Reser’s. Our sponsors are so fired up. We love Martin. I think he is on top of his game right now and I told him I think he has five more years.”
When Gibbs was asked if he would like Truex Jr. to race five more years, his reply was simple with a smile, “Yes.”
Truex said his new agreement with JGR will also see his younger brother Ryan Truex return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series with the same organization in 2024. The younger Truex scored his first career Xfinity Series triumph earlier this season at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway.
“We’ve got races for Ryan (Truex) again next year,” sounded Truex. “Hopefully more. We are looking for sponsorship to do a full year, if possible. That is on the table.
“He will be running part-time, but obviously it would be great if we could get him a full-time deal, so any out there looking for a good driver? He does a good job on social media too.”
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Signed, Sealed, and Delivered through 2024! ✍️#TeamToyota pic.twitter.com/GgtFO4tXvO
— Martin Truex Jr. (@MartinTruex_Jr) August 5, 2023
