By Toby Christie (Follow on Twitter @Toby_Christie)
Over the past few weeks, Bass Pro Shops was announced to be the primary sponsor for 24 events on Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 19 Toyota Camry in 2019. Now, more of the sponsorship picture is clear for the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion.
On Tuesday, Joe Gibbs Racing sent out a press release that announced Auto-Owners Insurance will adorn the hood of Truex’s car for eight events this season.
Auto-Owners has been a sponsor of Truex, 38, in each of the last three seasons (when the driver was at Furniture Row Racing) and each season resulted in the company reaching victory lane. Truex is looking forward to keeping the tradition alive for another season.
“Auto-Owners has been an incredible partner for a long time,” said Truex. “It means a lot to me for them to join us in the move to Joe Gibbs Racing this year. Auto-Owners has been very supportive as both a sponsor of our racing program and also the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation. We’ve had great success the past few years and we’re looking forward to continuing that this season as well.”
The deal is described as “multi-year” in the press release and the company will get it’s first official ride as a JGR primary sponsor at Bristol in April.
“To us, Martin is more than just an awesome driver and spokesperson for Auto-Owners, he has truly become a dear friend to our team,” said Mary Pierce, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Auto-Owners Insurance. “We are excited to have the opportunity to continue our partnership with Martin and look forward to working with Joe Gibbs Racing and the No. 19 team as we root Martin on to another championship.”
Truex has been one of the greatest drivers in the sport over the past four seasons. In that time, the New Jersey native has racked up an impressive 17 victories. Through the first nine years of Truex’s career, he had recorded only two wins.
If you’re keeping score at home, this leaves just four points-paying races that aren’t accounted for sponsorship-wise for Truex in ’19.
