NASCAR Cup Series: 3 possible landing spots for Martin Truex Jr. in 2019

Rumors are swirling that Furniture Row Racing may not compete in the NASCAR Cup Series next season. Where might their current driver, Martin Truex Jr., end up driving in 2019?

Last month, 5-hour ENERGY announced that they will be leaving NASCAR once the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, their seventh consecutive season as a sponsor in the sport, comes to an end.

Seeing as how 5-hour ENERGY are a $10 million sponsor for one of the sport’s smallest yet best teams, Furniture Row Racing, this announcement of their departure has sparked rumors that the Denver, Colorado-based team may have to shut down ahead of the 2019 season.

Furniture Row Racing team owner Barney Visser was quick to shut down these closing rumors. Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to NBC Sports.

"“Furniture Row Racing continues to develop sponsorship opportunities for 2019 and beyond. We have aligned ourselves with great partners over the years and are very proud of the success our organization has achieved, especially the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series championship with Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing not fielding a team in 2019 is not an option and we have every intention of continuing to build on our success for years to come.”"

But the fact is, Furniture Row Racing need sponsors. Martin Truex Jr., the defending Cup Series champion who drives the team’s lone full-time entry, the #78 Toyota, has admitted as much, and he has also admitted that this may end up causing him to leave the team at the end of this season even though that is certainly not what he wants to do.

Here is what Truex Jr. had to say about the matter when asked about his chances to return to Furniture Row Racing for a sixth consecutive season next year in what would be his 14th consecutive season as a full-time Cup Series driver, according to ESPN.

"“That’s hard to put a number on. 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, we need sponsorship. That’s as simple as it gets. So it’s hard to say. Is there a 50 percent chance we get that in a couple weeks or is there a 100 percent chance or is there 2 percent, I don’t know. I can tell you that everything really is based upon that.”"

With all of this in mind, for which team might the defending Cup Series champion end up driving in the 2019 Cup Series season? Here are three possible landing spots for him.