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Martin Truex Jr Drops an Emotional 3-Word Update on His Retirement From Racing

Published 04/24/2024, 2:19 PM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

Among all the active NASCAR drivers, one veteran is still clocking glorious moments. He has scored four top-ten and two top-five finishes this season. But Martin Truex Jr is yet to announce his exit from a long, glittering career in NASCAR. The 34-time Cup winner is intent on snagging a couple more wins. And possibly an end-of-year Phoenix victory maybe?

In his 20th year of racing, Martin Truex Jr may again start scratching his head about a curtain call. But his moment of departure will not come before leaving a trailblazing finish.

Martin Truex Jr is seeking to grab the Bill France Cup

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Martin Truex Jr dragged out his decision to retire in the summers of the last two NASCAR seasons. This year in February, he admitted that he has no clue about 2025. It is indeed true that he is a free spirit as he lets whims direct his path.

In an interview with Jeff Gluck on The Athletic, the JGR driver consolidated that attitude. Jeff Gluck inquired whether the veteran driver’s retirement resolution this year would be solid or not. In response, Martin Truex Jr said, “I mean, sitting here right now? I would say yeah, I think I could. But I don’t know in the moment. It’s going to be harder to stop doing this than I think. I’m not real good at thinking about those big decisions or making them, that’s for sure. I just go spur of the moment. Whatever I’m feeling at that time, I’ll just kind of wing it.”

However, his number one goal is intact: “Another championship. Get that done and get the hell out of here. (Laughs)”. And that retirement plan should be a grand one. Jeff Gluck asked about the championship stage this season. And Martin Truex Jr instantly responded, indicating the plans he is cooking to get the last laugh. He made a heavy 3-worded response: “It is possible”.

The last time Martin Truex Jr claimed the Bill France Cup was in 2017. He used to drive for Furniture Row Racing back then, having amassed 17 victories under the team. With 15 victories under Joe Gibbs Racing, Martin Truex Jr is still hungry for more.

However, the 44-year-old driver measures race success with more than just trophies.

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Truex Jr is focused on a good race

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Under the heightened surveillance of drivers’ lives on and off track, there is added pressure to perform well. Especially when every driver is harshly criticized on social media for the slightest of mistakes. That is what Martin Truex Jr highlighted in his interview with Jeff Gluck. He focused on doing a good race first as achieving a trophy is not that much in one’s hands and neither is it so important.

He talked about the biggest challenge in the present day. “It’s like, “You sucked on pit road today, you were two-tenths slower than everyone.” It’s like everything, every year, gets more difficult. And that’s the toughest thing about the sport now is; it’s doing all those little things right.”

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Then Martin Truex Jr emphasized what is more important. “Sometimes I think the best races I’ve ever driven don’t always have to be a win. Sometimes you have a 10th-place car and you run fourth with it and you didn’t make any mistakes all day and you drove a really good race.”

We expect him to drive really well at Dover Motor Speedway, where Martin Truex Jr is the defending race winner.

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Written by:

Sumedha Mukherjee

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Sumedha Mukherjee is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports who is known for her in-depth track analysis as well as her lifestyle coverage of Cup drivers like Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick. Inspired by the Kiwi's journey so far, Sumedha has also written pieces on Shane Van Gisbergen, predicting how the Supercars Champion would do in the new and unfamiliar American setting. Pairing her research skills with her vast experience as a writer, Sumedha creates stories her readers can easily get lost in.
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Edited by:

Shreya Singh