Martin Truex Jr. Likely To Re-Sign With Michael Waltrip Racing

Martin Truex Jr. and Napa are close to a contract extension with Michael Waltrip Racing, team owner Michael Waltrip told SBNation.com on Tuesday via phone.

Both Truex and Napa had deals that were set to expire at the end of this season, and Truex was under pressure to perform heading into the year.

But with MWR’s continued improvement and Truex’s strong showing – he already has as many top-five finishes this year than in the previous two seasons combined – it seems all parties wanted to stay together.

Waltrip said Tuesday a new deal with the driver and sponsor was “imminent.”

“We’re right on the edge of putting it all together,” he said. “We’re just working through some details.”

The team owner said everything might wait to be completed until after the July 4th holiday week, but added, “We’ll have a deal done with Napa and Martin here before much longer.”

Before the season, Truex was confident about improved performance and said he wanted to stay at MWR if the team was as good as he thought it could be.

So far, it has been. Truex is eighth in points and on pace to achieve career highs in every major statistical category.

“I mean, I want to be here next year,” he said in January. “We both have to wait and see how all that goes. But I feel good about this year. I really do. Time will tell.”

If Truex re-signs with Waltrip, it would mean one less quality ride available for other free-agent drivers like Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch. Former free agent Matt Kenseth already signed a new deal – likely to drive Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 car – and Denny Hamlin just re-upped with JGR’s No. 11.