NASCAR
Cup Series Points Leader Martin Truex Jr. Commits to Race in 2024
We now know the immediate future for 2017 NASCAR Champion and current points leader Martin Truex Jr. Invoking memories of Michael Jordan’s return to basketball, Truex told reporters over the weekend in Michigan “I’m back.”
After spending several weeks mulling over staying at Joe Gibbs Racing or retiring, Truex has inked a one-year contract extension for 2024. This mirrors the same extension he announced in June 2022 at Nashville Superspeedway.
“It was the same deal,” Truex said. “I got it out of the way. It didn’t feel right to not come back and keep doing what we are doing. Excited to get that out of the way and continue to work on this year and excited for next year as well too.”
After going winless in 2022, Truex has come back to life in vintage form for 2023. The New Jersey native currently has three wins plus the season-opening Busch Light Clash exhibition race. MTJ also leads the regular season championship standings by 57 points. Truex, 43, is well poised to enter the 2023 Playoffs as the top seed.
This past weekend in Michigan, Truex won both Stages and finished a close second to Chris Buescher. Once the postseason begins in three weeks, many have Truex already pegged as a championship favorite for Phoenix.
“I’ve come to terms with all of (the decisions) obviously, and I’m looking forward to continuing all of that. It is part of the job. It comes with the territory. You are not going to half-ass this job. I’m ready. I’m excited. We’ve got a great thing going. My team is amazing. They are doing great things. Love working with them, and happy to keep this going.”
“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 Jr. also went to bat for his younger brother Ryan in this new deal. Ryan Truex, 31, earned his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win earlier this season at Dover, after years of underfunded rides. This triumph came in the JGR No. 19 Toyota, only days before Martin also won that weekend’s Cup race in a Truex brothers sweep. Ryan will likely have an increased presence within the Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity program.
“Yeah, we’ve got races for Ryan (Truex) again next year. 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 anyone out there looking for a good driver? He does a good job on social media too.”
Arguably the hottest Cup Series driver and team of 2023 will not undergo any offseason changes. What does the next 15 or so months now hold for Martin Truex Jr? Driver 19 is likely to have a superb shot at this year’s Cup Series title, with speed and execution that rivals any other team. A five-time Championship 4 contender, few have more experience under high-stress Playoff scenarios than MTJ.
Should Truex hoist the Bill France Cup at Phoenix Raceway or not, he will have another prime chance next season. At the time of this writing, Truex is currently the odds-on favorite for the 2023 championship. It will be interesting to watch the 19 team over the next few weeks and see if this cloud of uncertainty dissipating has any positive impact on their performance.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Johnathan Bachman/Getty Images
