NASCAR: Martin Truex Jr. back at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2022?
By Asher Fair
Will Martin Truex Jr. be back with Joe Gibbs Racing for a fourth year behind the wheel of the #19 Toyota in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season?
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season has yet to begin, but there are already talks about the driver lineup, potential new contracts and silly season in general for the 2022 season.
The talks about the drivers without contracts to compete in the 2022 season, specifically those at some of the top-tier teams such as Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman and Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski, began to heat up even more this past week after Denny Hamlin signed a multi-year extension with Joe Gibbs Racing and primary sponsor FedEx to keep him behind the wheel of the #11 Toyota.
Among the drivers without deals to compete next year is Martin Truex Jr., one of Hamlin’s three teammates and now the only Joe Gibbs Racing driver who is not under contract to compete beyond the end of the 2021 season.
Truex signed with the team ahead of the 2019 season to drive the #19 Toyota as the replacement for Daniel Suarez, and his initial multi-year deal is set to come to an end at the end of this year.
Will he be back behind the wheel of the #19 Toyota next year?
“We have had talks and things have moved forward,” he said during his Daytona 500 media availability.
But there is nothing to announce at this time.
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There is no timetable on when that might change, but at the same time, there is no need for it to change anytime soon considering the fact that the 2021 season hasn’t even started and therefore the start of the 2022 season is more than a year away.
The 2017 champion finished in second place in the championship standings in his first season with the team in 2019 with a series-high seven wins, and he finished in a seventh place tie in the standings with teammate Kyle Busch last season with just one win. In 72 starts as a Joe Gibbs Racing driver, he has recorded 29 top five finishes and 47 top 10 finishes.
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The 2021 season is scheduled to get underway next Sunday, February 14 with the Daytona 500, a race which Truex still hasn’t won. That race is set to be broadcast live from Daytona International Speedway beginning at 2:30 p.m. on FOX.