Joe Gibbs Racing brought back Martin Truex Jr. for the 2023 NASCAR season and is committed to doing the same with Kyle Busch, who remains unsigned and without a sponsor, team president Dave Alpern said Thursday.
The process of getting a sponsor takes a long time, Alpern said, but he admitted that the process of replacing Mars, Inc. on Busch’s car has “taken a little longer than we thought.”
“We’ve been pretty consistent since last season, we want Kyle at the 18 car and that’s our plan,” Alpern said.
“It’s not for lack of interest,” he added. “It’s just trying to get everything put together so those will probably happen in parallel … we’re hoping to get something decided here in the very near future.”
Bass Pro Shops will continue to serve as Truex Jr.’s primary sponsor, extending a partnership that Alpern called a “match made in heaven.”
“I had a conversation with Martin at one time and I reminded him … ‘I don’t know what it’s like to be among the best in the world at what I do,” Alpern said. “But I wish I was and if I was and I could still do it, you’d have to pry me away from it.’”
The team president called Truex Jr. someone born to be a race car driver and one that “doesn’t do anything halfway.”
The 42-year-old Truex Jr.’s decision to come back hinged on whether he could continue that all-in spirit, Alpern said. The driver ultimately decided that he could deal with the grinding schedule — to JGR’s benefit.
