Martin Truex Jr. still anticipates entering the Daytona 500 in February with Cole Pearn serving as crew chief but doesn’t expect it to happen under the 23XI banner.
Truex retired from full-time NASCAR competition after the season finale at Phoenix Raceway on November 10.
“Racing-wise, I mean, I’m going to do the Daytona 500 and looking forward to running some Xfinity Series cars a bit here and there, just to have fun and see how it goes,” Truex said prior to the NASCAR Awards Ceremony in Downtown Charlotte. “I really enjoy that style of car, you know, low downforce, and just the older cars that we raced. So, I look forward to doing a little bit of that again, but other than that not sure. I have a lot of hobbies, and I need to catch up on those. I’m excited about that.”
The Daytona 500 start was originally pitched as a joint 23XI-Joe Gibbs Racing effort but now …?
“I’m not sure what they’re doing, honestly,” Truex said. “Kind of up in the air. I just told Gibbs, JGR is doing it somehow, so, we’ll see.”
Joe Gibbs Racing can’t entirely independently field the car as NASCAR rules allow for only four entries maximum from one organization. It could prepare the car and outsource resources to another organization but the only other Toyota affiliated team is Legacy Motor Club, which is expected currently to field cars at Daytona for Erik Jones,John Hunter Nemechek and Jimmie Johnson.
23XI Racing recently expanded to three full-time teams but is also currently one of two teams, alongside Front Row Motorsports, suing NASCAR on antitrust grounds.