Truex not worried about new sponsorship deal

Martin Truex Jr. has a LOUDON, sudden thirst for sponsorship cash.

Truex and his Furniture Row Racing team had about three weeks’ notice that 5hour Energy was set to leave the defending NASCAR champion as a primary sponsor at the end of the season.

After a 10-year relationship, the NASCAR buzz wore off for the energy brand, the latest big-bucks corporate defector from the sport. 5-hour’s departure leaves Furniture Row scrambling for coveted sponsorship dollars for the No. 78 Toyota and one of the top drivers in the Cup Series.

“I wish it didn’t take quite as long as it did,” Truex said Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “It kind of puts us in a tough spot now. But I’m not really, really worried. I think something good can come out of this.”

Furniture Row should be able to attract a top sponsor: Truex has 16 wins since 2016 and FRR has sponsorship funding from Bass Pro Shops and Auto-Owners Insurance, and is locked in with Toyota, the class of the manufacturers.

Truex, who won last week at Kentucky, qualified second Friday for Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch won the pole with a lap of 133.591. Kyle Busch will start third.

“I just can’t imagine there isn’t some partner out there that wouldn’t want to be partnered with this whole group,” FRR President Joe Garone said. “We’ve gotten a lot of interest just in the days since we’ve announced it.”

But Truex’s success wasn’t enough for 5-hour to keep pumping the millions of dollars needed to help fund the 78, and the car isn’t the only one on the market. Lowe’s decided to cease its relationship with Hendrick Motorsports and Jimmie Johnson at the end of the season after winning seven NASCAR titles.

“A lot of things go into those decisions,” Truex said. “I don’t know a ton about their business and how it’s doing or anything like that. Obviously, you’d think that with the success we’ve had and kind of how the last two years for us have went that, it’s certain we delivered on our end of the deal.”

FRR and Truex said the sponsorship search would not derail their plans toward working on a contract extension.

Garone, who said FRR will “absolutely” eventually return to a two-car operation, said Truex’s deal would get done.

“It’s not real tough with Martin. He wants to race with us, we want to race with him,” he said.

Truex lost a sponsor this week, but he at least won an ESPY for best driver. He skipped the award show for a fishing trip and said he didn’t think he was invited, anyway. ESPN said Friday an invitation was emailed and faxed on June 19 to FRR and two Truex representatives.

“You want to get to Truex you better have his number,” friend and former driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted.

FRR will surely give it to any sponsor that wants to make a deal.