AVONDALE, AZ - MARCH 10: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 5-hour Energy/Bass Pro Shops Toyota, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway on March 10, 2018 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
Martin Truex Jr ‘doesn’t know’ if he’ll be at Furniture Row Racing in 2019
Shane Walters
Furniture Row Racing is still seeking a sponsor for 2019; The defending NASCAR champion is unsure of his plans
In 2017, Martin Truex Jr claimed 8 race wins in the premier division of NASCAR. That tally more than doubled his career total. Between 2004-2016, Truex claimed 7 wins.
Furniture Row Racing went on the claim the series championship. However, 5-hour Energy moved from the second car of Erik Jones to the primary car of Martin Truex Jr. For 2018, Furniture Row Racing has been reduced to a single-car operation as Erik Jones went over to JGR.
In July, 5-hour Energy announced they would not return to FRR for 2019. Despite 4 wins so far in 2018, the championship defending team is seeking sponsorship.
“The more sponsors you have. The more things away from the track you have to do. The more commitments you have. We’ll just have to see how it all shakes out.”
“Typically, you have a certain number of appearances per sponsor. The more sponsors you have, the more you have to do. It’s definitely a tough balance.”
What percent chance do we have of seeing you drive for Furniture Row in 2o19?
There was a very long pause which was followed by a laugh.
“Umm. It’s hard to put a number on it. Honestly, I really don’t know.”
“I think in another week or two I’ll have a better answer for you, a better percentage. Right now, it’s just we need sponsorship. That’s as simple as it gets.”
“It’s hard to say. Is there a 50% chance we get that in the next couple weeks? Or 100%. Or is there 2%? I don’t know. I can tell you that everything really is based upon that.”
There’s rumors beginning to circulate about Martin Truex Jr and 2019. Truex is aware.
“I’m starting to hear rumors. That’s kinda how it works in this sport. I’ve been in this position before. I’ve got a great team. Barney’s done a lot for my career. Honestly, it’s something we all want to keep going. Just need a little bit of time to let the dominos fall in place. See if we can keep it going.”
“If not, I’ll have to figure it out from there.”
How do you stay focused?
“The biggest thing for us as a team is we’ve kinda been in this situation before. Really, the last couple seasons we’ve kinda been at a tipping point at some point in time.”
“We’ve just been able to focus on doing our jobs. We always feel like if we do our jobs and we do them well and we’re winning races, that’s our best opportunity to keep things going the way they are.”
“That’s not going to change. That’s just what we have to do. The commitments people made to use are through the end of the season. No matter what happens, this is a professional sport. We need to hold up our end of the deal.”
“I think our guys all understand that. With that said, we’re going to fight as hard as we can no matter what next year looks like and try to repeat what we did last year.”