Martin Truex Jr. is still working with Dale Earnhardt Inc. on his contract situation and whether he will be back in 2009 and beyond, the driver said Tuesday.
Truex Jr. has said he would like to race in 2009 at a place where he feels good about the long-term future of the company. DEI wants to pick up its option on him for 2009, but Truex Jr. has indicated that the contract technicalities are murky.
“I’m not sure – right now, we’re working hard with DEI to put some things together for next year,” Truex said during a NASCAR teleconference with reporters to preview the upcoming race at New Hampshire. “It has taken a little bit longer than expected for both of us, both sides – my side and on DEI’s side.
“We’re just trying to get through the details. For me, it’s just trying to get comfortable and be comfortable in the position I’m in and what they’re doing and the direction they’re headed for the future so I can make sure we can be together for a long time.”
In his third Cup season at DEI, Truex is 17th in the standings and 107 points out of 12th from making his second consecutive Chase For The Sprint Cup appearance.
DEI is working on getting its 2009 lineup solidified with most of its drivers and sponsors needing to re-up for next season. Among the uncertainty is whether veteran Mark Martin will return or possibly head to Hendrick Motorsports or another team.
“Obviously, there are some things going on with our other race cars and our other teams that I’m not quite sure what’s happening with them,” said Truex, whose name has at least been mentioned to driver for virtually every team that has an opening for 2009. “So [I’m looking for] a lot of things here and there [before deciding]. Our performance hasn’t been as good as it needs to be this year for whatever reason.
“We’ve had an OK season. We’ve ran really well at times and we’ve ran not so well at times.”
