MARTIN TRUEX JR WEIGHS IN ON CHASE BRISCOE REPLACING HIM AT JOE GIBBS RACING

Martin Truex Jr. has given his seal of approval after it was confirmed Chase Briscoe will replace him in the No.19 Joe Gibbs Racing car next season. Truex Jr. announced earlier this month he will be retiring from the NASCAR Cup Series at the end of the current campaign.

Briscoe quickly emerged as the top choice as his replacement. The 29-year-old has impressed for Stewart-Haas Racing in the No.14 car.

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He currently sits 16th in the regular season standings and is fighting to secure a playoff berth entering the Ally 400 at Nashville this weekend. Ahead of the race, Truex Jr. was asked for the first time publicly for his thoughts on the man who will be replacing him in 2025.

"I mean I think it's a great opportunity for him, obviously," the 2017 Cup Series champion told the media. "This sport, a lot of it is about timing and being in the right place at the right time. He's going to have a great team and a great car to step into."

Briscoe will retain Truex Jr.'s current crew chief, James Small, while Bass Pro Shops will continue to sponsor the iconic car.

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"I think it's huge," Truex Jr. said of Small staying on board. "James is really good at what he does and it's going to give Chase the opportunity to win a lot of races. There's no reason not to keep him around."

Asked if he had much input on the process, he explained: "I pretty much knew what they were going to do and the direction they were going. I didn't really tell them one thing or another, just they asked me questions about certain people through the process. I gave my opinion and they landed on who they wanted, so that's great for them.

"And I'm happy Jonny's staying on board with Bass Pro. That's a big deal for the company, so hopefully they can continue to do good things for the 19 team."

Briscoe also discussed the news finally being announced, a few days after new teammate Christopher Bell let slip that Briscoe would be the replacement for Truex Jr. at New Hampshire last weekend.

Briscoe said: "I mean, there's relief I guess just to know you're secure going forward. But to be honest I'm not really focused on JGR right now.

"I'm trying to get the #14 car in the playoffs. For me right now, that's the main focus, and come November we'll start worrying about JGR and all the stuff over there.

"It's nice for it to be done, for sure, I'm kind of glad it's finally out and in the way now, but we just got back to how business was before that."

2024-06-30T02:48:30Z dg43tfdfdgfd