NASCAR: 3 drivers who could sign with Joe Gibbs Racing for 2019
By Asher Fair
Martin Truex Jr.
By far, the driver who will most likely end up driving the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota next season is defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., who is set to lose his ride behind the wheel of the #78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota at the end of this season because of the fact that the Denver, Colorado-based team are set to shut down.
The 38-year-old Mayetta, New Jersey native has already been tipped to replace Daniel Suarez next year, and although this speculation has not yet been confirmed, this would make a lot of sense given the success that he has had since Furniture Row Racing formed a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing in the 2016 season.
There are rumors that Joe Gibbs Racing will form a technical alliance with another team since their technical alliance with Furniture Row Racing will naturally end once Furniture Row Racing shut down and they are set to become the lone Toyota team with at least one full-time driver.
If they do form a technical alliance with another team, this other team would likely be Leavine Family Racing. Kasey Kahne, who is set to retire at the end of this season, is Leavine Family Racing’s lone driver, and he drives the #95 Chevrolet.
Forming a technical alliance with Leavine Family Racing would allow Joe Gibbs Racing to sign Martin Truex Jr. while having Daniel Suarez sign with Leavine Family Racing to drive what would become the #95 Toyota, thus keeping him close to the team despite the fact that he would be losing his seat behind the wheel of the #19 Toyota to Truex Jr.
But if Truex Jr. does not end up signing with Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the #19 Toyota next year, who else might do so?