Martin Truex Jr. signs contract extension with Furniture Row Racing

Even with his contract set to expire at the end of the season, Martin Truex Jr. never had any intent to leave Furniture Row Racing, the place where the 36-year-old driver has enjoyed a career renaissance.

That commitment was affirmed when Truex and Furniture Row -- a single-car team based not in the NASCAR North Carolina hotbed but Denver, Colo., -- agreed to a two-year contract extension keeping Truex driving the No. 78 car through the 2018 season. The new deal was announced Thursday night.

“I’ve been in the series 10 years and it’s taken me that long to get here to where I want to be,” Truex said Friday at Watkins Glen International. “I’ve put a lot of effort in, I’ve busted my butt to get in this position where I can win consistently and be a championship contender. To throw that away would obviously be silly unless it was something that you just couldn’t do for some crazy reason.”

Truex joined the single-car team in 2014 following a turbulent tenure with Michael Waltrip Racing, culminating with him being booted out of NASCAR’s playoffs due to MWR’s involvement in a cheating scandal that Truex had no knowledge of.

After an uneven 2014 season, Truex emerged as a title contender last year. He won one race, set career-highs for top-five and top-10 finishes and was one of four drivers advancing to the championship finale. That carried over to 2016 during which he owns one victory and leads the Sprint Cup Series in laps led.

“The last year-and-a-half with this team has been amazing,” Truex said. “... I think we’re one of the best teams in the garage. Certainly we’ve had the speed consistency this year to be considered one of those guys and honestly I still feel like we’re growing, I still feel like we’re learning each other and getting better and learning new things.”

Coinciding with Truex’s new deal, Bass Pro Shops has increased its sponsorship of Furniture Row from 12 races this season to 16 of 38 races for each of the next two seasons. That’s an important element for a team that was largely self-funded by team owner Barney Visser since its inception in 2005.

The additional sponsorship is expected to allow the formation of a second team. That announcement will occur Sunday morning with Erik Jones to drive the No. 77 car sponsored 5-Hour Energy, according to NBC Sports.

“It’s certainly a part of it for the growth of the team,” Furniture Row general manager Joe Garone said. “... Bass Pro Shops really coming onboard this last year has really opened up a door for other sponsorships. And, it’s kind of settled us to where we feel we’re getting strong enough to support a second effort and it’s no secret we’ve been working on that and we’ll see where that takes us.”