By virtue of producing 2 straight race winning drivers, as car owner, Joe Gibbs took part in the post race press conference in each. It was fitting that it’s late July and the last two winners don’t have deals in place for 2024 yet.

This latest one though, well it’s closer to being finalized than the other.

“Denny is here for the next 10 years. That’s what I’m announcing (smiling),” Gibbs joked after Denny Hamlin won Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Pocono.

“No, really, we’re working on everything in our place. We know Denny’s going to be here.”

Hamlin isn’t going anywhere either. His deals work a little bit differently with owning his own race team in 23XI Racing too. Between sponsors and Toyota, there’s more wording to get through.

However, Martin Truex Jr. is in a different state.

One would think as each passing week goes by, that the aspirations of Martin Truex Jr. racing in 2024 could dim. Last year, he made his decision in late June in deciding to announce unexpectedly at the Nashville Superspeedway that he was returning on a one-year contract for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

It’s now mid July. Truex still doesn’t know what he wants to do yet.

“Hey, will you please talk to him for me? He tells me the same thing every year, that I’m right in the middle of trying to make this decision,” Joe Gibbs joked. “I go, come on, what are you talking about, man? You’re making money, you’re having fun, you’re driving race cars. Come on.

“But no, we haven’t — I think it is, though, very important for us to kind of have some pressure here because it’s pressure for all of us. It’s a huge deal for us.

“I’m hoping — I really felt like he’s having such, I think, a great year, and I think he’s having fun, and so I’m hoping that we get a good answer for us here.”

Truex said as of a week ago that he truly has no idea what he’s going to do yet.

“I just don’t really know,” Truex said last Monday after scoring his third win of the season. “I don’t really know. I’m bad at making big decisions. I told somebody out there, I was like, I’ve been looking at salt water boats for five, six years. Love to fish, spend a lot of time on the water, and I haven’t pulled the trigger on a boat because I just can’t make up my mind on what I want. I’m just bad at big decisions.

“I finally am about to buy one maybe this week. I wish I had more time to figure out what I want to do next year, but I don’t, so I’ll know soon and you’ll know soon.”

He keeps saying soon, but he struggles to make up his mind. It’s getting later and later and the team needs a decision soon themselves so they can plan on next year.

With a bounce back season and being a championship front runner past the midway mark now, having a contract in place that just awaits his signature, what is it exactly that Truex truly is waiting for?

“I don’t know. I’m not sure. This sport isn’t exactly what it appears to be sometimes. It takes a big commitment,” he said.

“My team is amazing. They deserve the very best driver, the guy that wants it more than anyone else, and I’ve been that guy. I want to make sure that if I come back, I’m willing to do that. It takes a lot. It’s not just show up at the track, drive the car, go home. It takes a lot. It takes a lot of commitment. It’s a lot of travel. A lot of time missing things with family and friends and all those things that I’ve done for 25 years. Do I want to keep doing it and am I willing to sacrifice all those things again for my team?

“So that’s just what I’m thinking about. I don’t know that running good and winning makes a difference. It would be pretty awesome to win the championship and walk off into the sunset.”

The thing is, he won’t know if he’s winning the championship or not until early November and that’s far too late to keep JGR in limbo.

It almost sounds as if he’s got one foot out the door with those comments because he truly doesn’t have much more to prove.

He’s a for sure Hall of Famer. He’s scored 34 Cup wins including two crown jewels in winning the Coca-Cola 600 twice (2016, 2019) and the Southern 500 once (2016). He also won the Clash in the LA Coliseum this year.

He won the Championship in 2017. He also won the Xfinity Series title in 2004 and again in 2005. In that series, he has accumulated 13 wins. He’s also won in the Truck Series as well.

Combined, that’s 48 victories in NASCAR which ranks him in a tie with Jeff Burton and Herb Thomas for 25th.

He’s made the Championship 4 a record tying five times. Just Joey Logano and Kyle Busch have equaled that mark. He’s been there in 4 of the last 6 years at that in finishing in the top two each time.

His 10 playoff wins rank sixth best.

He also considers three tracks his “home tracks.” Dover, Watkins Glen and Loudon. He’s won now at all.

It’s truly to the point of what more do you want him to do moving forward?

It almost seems like it doesn’t matter if he’s winning like he is now, or reeling like he was last year, he’s truly mulling this more and more and the longer he waits, you just got to think that it’s not pulling him back.

If he truly deep down in his heart wanted to come back, he’d have done it by now. It seems like from the outside perspective, that he’s trying to talk himself into wanting to come back in 2024 rather than the other way around.

If it’s July and this much success isn’t making you want it more, then I don’t know what more will. Just look at what he said last Fall in November about why he came back this season despite a slump.

“That’s what keeps you hungry, keeps coming back keeps you motivated,” he said. “You know, I’ve had years where I knew we were showing up, you’re gonna have a chance to win. So from that standpoint, I mean, it really wasn’t that difficult. It was more of that by the end of the week and you’re like, Okay, frustrated again. We didn’t get it done. Now we gotta go back and start over. And try to get it done next week.

“So there’s always light at the end of the tunnel that we can get it done because I know we can you know we I mean two weeks ago at Homestead we have shot when there you know and so just kind of be more consistent. We got to take advantage of opportunities when they arise and not make as many mistakes as we did including me. You know, I made my share of mistakes this year as well so I mean I need to work on that and make sure I don’t do it again. So as a whole we just need to work on all those little details. And like I said hopefully understand these cars better for certain tracks and have a better overall car on certain tracks compared to some of our competitors.

“You know, I just want to take it as it comes and I know you know the reason I came back is because I knew we could win at any single weekend.

“And I’m like, I can’t stop yet, we’re too good. You know, I mean not saying that in an arrogant way, but I just feel like any weekend we just show up and win still and I’d hate to not take advantage of that.

“So hopefully, like I said, we can get the ball rolling next year early and be more consistent and we’re having fun and winning races again, and that’ll be it’ll make decisions a lot easier. As long as everything else comes together and there’s a lot of things that need to come together to make these deals work. So no idea at this point in time, but excited for you know, obviously coming back next year and hopefully doing some great things.”

Now that he’s doing great things, he still doesn’t know if he wants to come back. That’s telling.