Dash for cash: Cup champ Truex in the market for '19 sponsor

LOUDON, N.H. (AP) — Martin Truex Jr. has a sudden thirst for sponsorship cash.

Truex and his Furniture Row Racing team had about three weeks' notice that 5-hour Energy was set to leave the defending NASCAR champion as a primary sponsor at the end of the season.

After a 10-year relationship, the NASCAR buzz wore off for the energy brand, the latest big-bucks corporate defector from the sport. 5-hour's departure leaves Furniture Row scrambling for coveted sponsorship dollars for the No. 78 Toyota and one of the top drivers in the Cup Series.

"I wish it didn't take quite as long as it did," Truex said Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "It kind of puts us in a tough spot now. But I'm not really, really worried.