Martin Truex Jr. 'not really worried' about loss of sponsor

The energy shot company has most recently served as the primary sponsor for 14 races on Truex’s No. 78 Toyota and shared the primary spot on several others.

“They’ve been on the fence for a kind of a while and we’ve kind of been waiting on a decision and so I don’t know that I was surprised, but I guess I wish it didn’t take quite as long as it did and, you know, kind of puts us in a tough spot now,” Truex said.

“I’m not really, really worried. I mean, I think something good can come out of this. Obviously it’s not great timing with all that’s going on, but I’ve got confidence in my team and what we’re doing and hopefully we can find a replacement for that.”

Truex, 38, said he doesn’t believe team owner Barney Visser is in position to shoulder the entire cost of the team like he did in its early years.

“I’m committed to the team and trying to figure out how we can continue moving forward and hopefully there’s a company out there that we can do a great job representing and hopefully they’ll come out and show their support here shortly,” he said.

Truex, the reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, has earned 16 of his 19 career victories in the last three years. He is on pace to once again contend for the series championship this season.

Truex is also in the final year of his contract with FRR but said the sponsorship issues shouldn’t affect his future with the team.

“Certainly makes things more difficult, you know, but we’ve been talking about it and honestly it’s not like we were just waiting on this to happen,” he said. “It just was more of – we’re just trying to figure everything out, what’s the best direction to go, get all the details and honestly we haven’t really worked that hard on it.

“It’s not really a pressing issue for me. I know what the team wants. I know where we’re all at, you know, it’s not like I’m nervous they’re going to sign somebody else or I’m going to be searching for a ride.”