Truex, crew chief will join Gibbs team

CH A RLOTTE, N . C .» NASCAR champion Martin Truex Jr. and his crew chief will move to Joe Gibbs Racing next season to remain in the Toyota organization after their race team folds in two weeks.

Truex won his first Cup title last year driving for Denverbased Furniture Row Racing. Barney Visser had funded the team out of pocket for most of its existence but received relief help the last few seasons from sponsorship.

When the primary sponsor of the No. 78 decided to leave NASCAR and Visser couldn’t find a replacement, the owner decided to close because he found it too expensive to field a championship-contending team without outside funding.

Truex will replace Daniel Suarez as driver of the No. 19 team. Sponsorship was not announced.

“Anytime you have an opportunity to bring two people of this caliber into your organization, it’s certainly an exciting time,” said team owner Joe Gibbs. “They obviously have developed a chemistry that has led to tremendous success, including a championship. We’ve gotten to know them well over the past few years through the alliance and having been part of the Toyota family. They both make us stronger as an organization.”

Truex has 19 Cup victories, including a career-high eight victories in last year’s championship season. A member of the so-called Big Three that dominated NASCAR this season, Truex has four victories and goes to Phoenix this weekend in contention for a spot in the championship race. Only one of the three slots for the finale has been filled, and Truex is above the cutline to qualify for Homestead-Miami Speedway and a shot at defending his title.

“I’m really excited to have the opportunity to join Joe Gibbs Racing,” he said. “Obviously to be able to make this transition and still be able to work alongside Cole (Pearn) is something that was very important to me. There is also a real comfort level working with the JGR team and I wanted to stay in the Toyota family.

“We still have big goals for the remainder of this season, but it’s nice to know what we will be doing in 2019.”

Pearn was promoted from lead engineer to crew chief for the No. 78 team in 2015 and has guided the team to 17 victories.