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Tommy Joe Martins closes Truck team, to focus on Xfinity Series in 2018

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Tommy Joe Martins

Brian Lawdermilk

NASCAR Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series driver Tommy Joe Martins announced Saturday that he has ceased operations of the Truck Series team he owns and drives for, effective immediately.

Martins tweeted the announcement about Martins Motorsports, saying “It was a hard decision, a frustrating decision, but the right one for me and my family.”

The Como, Mississippi native has competed in 28 Truck races between 2009 and 2017. His best finish to date over that time was 15th at Michigan International Speedway in 2016.

Martins had planned to go forward with another part-time schedule in the Truck Series in 2018, as well as potentially field trucks for other drivers, but according to an interview he had with Frontstretch.com, two handshake deals for sponsorship fell through.

Martins will focus on returning to Team McLeod in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2018. He has 20 career starts in the Xfinity Series, with 11 starts in 2014 and nine in 2017. He earned his best overall NASCAR finish last season (11th) in an Xfinity race at Iowa Speedway.

“I’m in a position now where my driving career isn’t tied to this race team,” Martins told Frontstretch.com. “I’ve got a deal for 10 races with BJ McLeod next year and he’s already been open to upping that to about 15 races. So I’m getting to run half the year in Xfinity anyway.”