June 24, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Martin Truex Jr. will return to Joe Gibbs Racing in '23

LEBANON, Tenn.—Don’t schedule the Martin Truex Jr. farewell tour just yet.

After months of reflection, the 2017 NASCAR Cup champion has decided to return to competition next year.

And with three runner-up results in the last four seasons—including last year—Truex would like to win another title before he retires.

“The competitive side of me said, ‘I’m not done and keeping fighting,’ so here we are,” Truex said.

While the driver of the No. 19 Toyota has yet to sign an extension, Truex said Joe Gibbs Racing has agreed to his terms to return. As to the length of the deal, the driver is taking it one year at a time.

Truex added team owner Joe Gibbs was persuasive when it came to having the affable racer stay on.

“I tried to just think about all of this myself and figure it out,” Truex said. “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.”

Certainly, this season has left Truex wanting more. The driver, who turns 42 on Wednesday, is used to winning—and hasn’t yet in 2022. Truex has scored 28 wins over the last six seasons. For five of the past seven years, Truex has advanced to the Championship 4. He’s currently sixth in the standings.

But it has been 24 races since the No. 19 visited Victory Lane. His average finish of 13.9 hasn’t been this high since 2016.

“I don’t like not running good,” Truex said. “I’m here to win. I feel like everyone is working really, really hard right now. I’ve got an awesome team. They’ve got my back. I’ve got theirs. It’s an up-and-down sport. I’ve been a lot worse off than this before. We’re sitting in a good spot in points—it just depends how many guys win if we can’t.”

Ryan Blaney is fourth in the points—the highest driver in the standings without a win. Truex, the second highest driver in points sans win, trails Blaney by 30 points. While the new car has proven to be challenging for Truex, he was10th quick in single lap runs and seventh fastest in best consecutive 10 lap averages.

“I feel like we're getting closer,” Truex said. “We'll keep doing all we can. I feel pretty good about my car today. It’s the best I've felt in a while. I don't know if the speed is necessarily there, but it felt good.

“We ran the first 10 laps of practice and it was the first time all year I was like, ‘I like it.’ So I hope that's a great sign for us this weekend, but we'll wait and see.”

“I tried to just think about all this myself and figure it out,” Truex said. “Friends and family helped as well. I just wanted to look and make sure I was doing the right thing.”

JGR released a simple statement quoting the driver, “I’m coming back.”

As to whether his long-time partner Sherry Pollex was ready to have the driver at home full-time,  Truex replied, “No, probably not. Probably not. She knows how competitive I am and how much I want to win and how much I'd love another championship. So she was all for me to keep going.”