After considerable soul-searching, Martin Truex Jr. decided to return to Joe Gibbs Racing for another season in the No. 19 Toyota.
The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion told reporters of his decision Friday in a question-and-answer session in the Nashville Superspeedway media center.
Joe Gibbs Racing subsequently released a statement featuring a typically terse comment from Truex: “I’m coming back.”
“The competitive side of me said, ‘I’m not done, and keep fighting,’ so here we are,” Truex told reporters. “I tried to just think about all of this myself and figure it out.
“Friends and family helped as well. I just wanted to look and make sure I was doing the right thing. I wanted to make sure if I kept going, I was going to be happy with the decision.”
The affable driver from Mayetta, New Jersey, who will turn 42 on Wednesday, won his series title with Furniture Row Racing in 2017. Since joining JGR in 2019, Truex has accumulated 12 victories but none so far this year. He’s currently sixth in the Cup standings.
Asked whether he would find himself in the same position at this point next season, Truex said: “Probably. I’m the world’s worst procrastinator.”
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