Martin Truex Jr. signs contract extension with Furniture Row
Martin Truex Jr. is staying at Furniture Row Racing.
That sentence really isn’t breaking news. It was no secret that Truex wanted to come back to the team and that Furniture Row wanted Truex in the car after this season, when his contract expired. Now, their future partnership is official.
The team announced Thursday that Truex had signed a two-year contract extension. Bass Pro Shops will also up its ante of races from 12 to 16 races in each of the next two seasons.
“The signing of Martin Truex Jr. to a new contract and Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats adding more races to its primary sponsorship package are signs of strength and confidence for the future of Furniture Row Racing,” FRR president Joe Garone said in a statement. “Martin has proved over and over that he is one of the blue chip drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and we are elated that he will continue to drive our No. 78 Toyota.”
Truex joined the team after the 2013 season when he lost his ride at Michael Waltrip Racing because of sponsorship issues following its Richmond race manipulation scandal. After a rocky 2014 season, Truex made the final round of the Chase in 2015.
2015 was also the team’s last year technically aligned with Richard Childress Racing’s Chevrolet organization. The team switched to Toyota and an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing for 2016.
Despite a metric crap ton of bad luck in 2016 with flat tires, pit road miscues and more, Truex is still eighth in the points standings because of the speed the team has shown. Truex led the most miles in NASCAR history as he dominated and won the Coca-Cola 600.
With Truex locked up for the next two years, the biggest non-racing question about the team is if it will add a second car. The team has said it’s open to doing so if sponsorship is found. A second car could be a way for Erik Jones to get a Sprint Cup ride given there’s no spot at JGR available. Jones has 12 wins in 86 career Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series starts.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
