Getty Martin Truex Jr. before race at WWT Raceway.
It’s June or the time of the year that Martin Truex Jr. starts consistently getting asked questions about his potential retirement. It’s happened the last couple of seasons. During a June 5 visit with reporters previewing the upcoming NASCAR race weekend at New Hampshire, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was unsurprisingly asked about his future and if he’d had the time necessary to make his decision.
“Yeah, I don’t know yet. We’ll see,” Truex said. “I think, you know, it’s never enough time in this sport because you need to start planning for next year — like now.
@MartinTruex_Jr was asked about retirement and where he is in the decision process and whether or not he would consider walking off into the sunset and retiring if he wins the @NASCAR Cup Series championship in Phoenix.
“So it’s a tough situation to be in where I’m at right now, trying to figure it out six, eight months ahead of time, whatever. But it is what it is, you know. There’s a lot of people that have to make plans and you don’t want to mess them up. So you kind of got to be looking out for everybody else in these situations.”
Martin Truex Jr. Talks About a Retirement Scenario That Would Be ‘Pretty Awesome’
While Truex is still in the middle of trying to figure out whether or not he’ll return in 2025, he was asked if winning the championship in Phoenix might provide him with the perfect opportunity to ride off into the sunset and cap off a career that includes 34 wins and the 2017 Cup title.
“That would be cool,” he admitted. “Again, it’s not really an option I don’t think. It would leave a lot of people high and dry, which would not be cool.
“I mean it’s not really an option unless you plan on, you say, ‘Ok, this is my last year’ and then you win the championship. That would be pretty awesome.”
If Martin Truex Jr. Retires, It Won’t Be Based on Performance
In 2022, Truex announced his decision to return late in June. Last year, he waited until August. If he does decide to hang up his helmet for a final time after the 2024 campaign, it won’t be due to his performance.
Through the first 15 races in 2024, he’s currently sitting fourth in the points. And the reason for his position in the standings is because he’s consistently running up front.
In the first dozen events, the No. 19 pilot was the only driver in the Cup field that hadn’t recorded a finish of 20th or worse.
@MartinTruex_Jr is still thinking about his future and possible retirement. If he does decide to step away, it won’t be based on a drop-off in performance. Here’s what the 2017 Cup champion has done through the first 15 races in the last three seasons (2022-2024).
Interestingly, his results thus far this year are equal to or better than the same point in the previous two seasons when he opted to return. Truex’s stats in 2024 are almost identical to 2023, recording the same number of top 5s (4), top 10s (7), top 20s (13), and finishes 21st or higher (2). The only difference is he had a win at Dover in 2023.
Comparing this year to the same number of races in 2022, he has two more top 5s and top 20s and the same number of top 10s. He has two fewer finishes of 21st or higher this season.
Translation: Truex has still got it. He’s still competing for wins. And yes, he just might find himself competing for his second championship in Phoenix at the end of this year. What happens if he wins it is still up in the air, but we know he’s at least thought about it.