Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
According to a report in The Athletic, 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. will retire at the end of the season.
This is also will knock another Silly Season domino over as Chase Briscoe, out of a ride with the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing, is the leading candidate to take over the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE.
Truex, 42, has operated under a series of one-year agreements the past two seasons as he has contemplated retirement.
With a Cup championship, two more in the Xfinity Series and 34 wins at the highest level over the past two decades, Truex is as decorated as they come especially since joining the Toyota family in 2016 with Furniture Row Racing.
For his part, Briscoe has two wins at SHR but both came after the heyday of the organization. Briscoe was hand selected by team owner Tony Stewart due to their similar Indiana open wheel roots.
Similarly, Briscoe would also harken back to Stewart’s own tenure at Gibbs, where he won two championships and a vast majority of his success.
Bass Pro Shops also has relationships with Austin Dillon at Richard Childress Racing and Noah Gragson at SHR and that sponsorship is likely to expand wherever Gragson lands next season.