LOUDON, N.H.—Michael Waltrip Racing would like to keep Martin Truex Jr.
For his part, Truex wouldn’t mind staying with the organization.
But the economic realities of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing may force Truex to find a ride with another team next year.
The last two weeks have been brutal for the driver of the No. 56 Toyota. On Sept. 9, two days after locking up a spot in the Chase, Truex lost his berth in NASCAR’s 10-race playoff when the sanctioning body penalized him and MWR teammates Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers for the organization’s manipulation of the outcome of the final regular-season race at Richmond.
On Thursday morning, Truex lost his primary sponsor and the estimated $16 million in annual support for his car. NAPA announced on a Facebook posting that the auto parts retailer was opting out of its three-year contract with MWR because of the machinations at Richmond and subsequent negative fallout.
Truex may have been the object of the manipulation—a spin by Bowyer and unnecessary pit stop by Vickers temporarily earned Truex a Wild Card Chase spot–but he wasn’t party to the orchestration of events that led to a record $300,000 fine to MWR and NAPA’s subsequent departure.
In fact, Truex and his Cup program have borne the brunt of the consequences to the organization and left the 33-year-old driver with no concrete deal for next year.
Does Truex feel he’s a victim?
“Yes,” Truex replied Friday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after turning a qualifying lap that was good for the fifth starting spot in Sunday’s Sylvania 300. “What else can I say—yeah.”
Truex, however, may have solid options. He has a strong relationship with NAPA, who might move with him to another team.
“We do have a great relationship and, again, this has all happened so fast — obviously, they’re going to need a little time for the dust to settle and figure out what their next move is,” Truex said of his sponsor. “Just have to wait.
“I guess it’s an option, yeah. I feel like we’ve got a great relationship. I feel like I’ve represented them well, and I know they’re happy with the job I’ve done on and off the race track. We’ll just see where that leads. But right now, honestly, I have no idea what’s going to happen.”
With Chase driver Kurt Busch departing for Stewart-Haas in 2014, Denver, Colo.-based Furniture Row Racing needs a driver. Furniture Row, a single-car Chevrolet team, has had discussions with Toyota this year but was told there currently was no room in the Toyota stable for another organization.
That was before the Waltrip imbroglio. Furniture Row hasn’t re-signed with Chevy yet, though the team has renewed its deal for engines and technical support with Richard Childress Racing, which fields Chevrolets.
Consequently, a Truex move to Furniture Row with NAPA sponsorship, perhaps in a second car and perhaps with a manufacturer change, would be a complicated proposition–though not impossible.
Whatever he does, the two-time Nationwide Series champion knows time is short.
“I wish I knew, and I wish I could say, but a lot of circumstances have to play out, and it’s so late in the game and late in the season,” said Truex, who was fifth fastest in Saturday morning’s first practice session. “People already know what they’re doing next year. This is definitely not the time of year you want to find out that you really don’t have a ride next year, so to speak.
“I don’t know … it’s going to be tough, but we’ll have to deal with it, and hopefully we’ll figure it out.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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