Page 52 - 2019_NPPG_digital copy

MARTIN TRUEX JR.

Birth Date: June 29,1980 Hometown: Mayetta, NJ
Team: No. 19 Toyota Camry Coupe / Joe Gibbs Racing

A lot has changed for Martin Truex Jr. for the 2019 Monster Energy
NASCAR Cup Series season.
2018 FEATURED DRIVERS And so much will remain the same.

The 2017 series champion has a new home with Joe Gibbs Racing.
While he’s getting a new car number – 19 – and a new boss, Truex hardly
will notice the difference since his former team, Furniture Row Racing,
was a satellite team for JGR. When Furniture Row decided to close, the
only thing that actually changed was Truex’s work address.

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FRR got cars and technical information from Joe Gibbs.
”It’s been a good run, and I hate to see it come to an end, but everything
ends somewhere and things change,” he said.
@MartinTruex_Jr @martintruex_jr

Truex will replace Daniel Suarez, turning JGR from an elite team to a
superpower. He will have Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones martintruexjr.com @MartinTruexJr
as official teammates, and Matt DiBenedetto as an official teammate.
DiBenedetto will drive for Leavine Family Racing, which became JGR’s
new satellite team when Furniture Row shut down. Camry Coupe to an identical car.

Gibbs will be getting the hottest driver on the circuit. Truex won the Cup “You know, I feel good about my future and going to a great place, and I
series championship in 2017, and he was second a year ago. know we’ll have more success,” Truex said. “But it’s going to be different.
You know, it’s going to be a different team, a different cast of characters,
Truex won just one race in his first two years with FRR, but he and crew and these guys were a special group, and I’m very thankful to get to work
chief Cole Pearn turned things around in 2016. Together they won 16 with all of them.
races in their final three years ago Furniture Row.
“A few are coming with us, but the ones that aren’t I wish them the best,
Pearn will join him at JGR. and we’ll be friends forever. It’s just been a good ride. It’s been a good run,
and I hate to see it come to an end, but everything ends somewhere and
“I’m extremely proud of everything we’ve been able to accomplish over things change.”
the past few years out of Denver [with FRR] and the move to JGR will
make the transition for 2019 an easy one,” Pearn said. “It’s a great Gibbs expects a smooth transition. In fact, it’s more likely nobody inside
organization with a lot of great people and a leadership team that wants the JGR will noticed the difference.
to win.”
“They obviously have developed a chemistry that has led to tremendous
Truex won four times last season, but there were signs the team’s success, including a championship,” Gibbs said. “We’ve gotten to know
breakup may have played a role in their second-half winless draught. All them well over the past few years through the alliance and having been
four victories came in the first half of the year. Oddly enough, he led 454 part of the Toyota family.
laps in the first 19 races and 562 in the second half. The only difference
was his ability to close the deal. “They both make us stronger as an organization.”
He still advanced all the way to the Championship 4 winner-take-all race Since he’s contributed to JGR’s success for the past five years, Truex
at the Homestead-Miami Speedway last November, where he led the already will be up to speed since he doesn’t have to learn the ropes.
race with 12 laps remaining, only to be passed by Joey Logano in the
stretch drive. “I’m ready to embrace my new role, which is a huge opportunity for me, a
great team, championship winning organization that wins a lot,” Truex said.
Finishing second in points was bittersweet for everyone involved with “So, the pressure will be a little bit different.”
Furniture Row. But Truex already knew he was jumping from one Toyota
And the same.

52 THE OFFICIAL NASCAR 2019 PREVIEW & PRESS GUIDE