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Martin Truex Jr. Announces Retirement From Full-Time Cup Competition

Martin Truex Jr. will be retiring from full-time competition from the NASCAR Cup Series at the end of the season, the driver announced June 14 during a press conference at Iowa Speedway.

Truex spoke alongside Joe Gibbs and Johnny Morris, founder and CEO of long-time Truex sponsor Bass Pro Shops. Teammates from Joe Gibbs Racing were in attendance as well. 

“It’s been incredible,” Truex said. “It’s been a hell of a ride. I’m excited for the future, even though I don’t really know what that looks like yet. I feel good about my decision. I just want to thank Coach and everyone at JGR. They’ve been absolutely amazing.” 

“To be able to win a championship is something I’ve always dreamed of and to get that done was amazing. Just feel very lucky to be surrounded by so many great people over the years. To all the guys I’ve worked with, crew members, crew chiefs, team owners, you name it, it’s been a true honor. I’ll miss all those people for sure, but I won’t be gone. I’ll still be around. We’re going to do some stuff together, enjoy life and wind down.”

See also
Dropping the Hammer: The Unlikely Slow-Burn Career of Martin Truex Jr.

Retirement rumors have swirled around the veteran Truex for years, including throughout last season before he signed a one-year extension with Joe Gibbs Racing in August.

Truex said he’s been leaning towards retiring most of the season before making his decision a few weeks ago. The decision ultimately came down to Truex wanting the freedom to set his own schedule

“It just felt like the right time for me,” Truex said. “I thought about it a lot the past few seasons and just waited for that feeling in my mind to be positive. Like ‘Okay, I want to do something else.’ Something just felt different this year for me and I felt it was time to slow down and do something else.”

“21 years I’ve done this and I’ve never missed a race, never missed a practice, never been late for anything, never missed an appearance. You live your life by a schedule that somebody makes for you and it’s just time for me to make my own schedule.

Joe Gibbs said that Truex will stay on with JGR as a team ambassador and that a part-time schedule might be a possibility.

“I think what we’re really excited about is him staying here in the future,” Gibbs said. “I’m sure I’ll have to find him some place in a boat or with Johnny in a tree blind someplace, but we’re going to run him down. We’re excited about the future.”

Truex plans to run the rest of the 2024 season. He currently sits fifth in the Cup Series standings without a win to lock himself into the playoffs. Truex was on pace for a runner-up finish last week at Sonoma before running out of fuel on the final lap. The heartbreaking result, one of many this season, was not a factor in his decision.

“We’ve had some disappointments this year for sure but it’s not enough to make you stop doing what you want to do,” Truex said. 

Truex won the 2017 Cup Series championship and made the round of four five times. Truex also won back-to-back Xfinity Series titles in 2004 and 2005. Last season, Truex was named as one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers.

“I would say I’ve achieved more than I ever thought I would,” Truex said. “A championship and three runner-ups in this format, I feel like that’s really good. I’m proud of what I’ve done. I feel like I was really good at what I did. I’m content. I’m happy. I feel good about this.”

Truex has 34 Cup wins, including a pair of Coca-Cola 600 wins and a victory in the 2016 Southern 500. His most recent win was at New Hampshire last season. 

The early stages of Truex’s Cup career was a slow burn with stints at Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, Michael Waltrip Racing before landing at Furniture Row Racing. Truex won just three races in his first nine full-time seasons in the Cup Series, including a 218-race drought between his first win at Dover in 2007 and his second win at Sonoma in 2013.

In 2016, Truex won four Cup races. In 2017, Truex claimed the regular season title and won eight races, including the championship race at Homestead. Truex would make another final four appearance with Furniture Row the following season before the team dissolved.

Truex has made the final four in the playoffs twice since joining JGR in 2019. Both times — 2019 and 2021 — he was the runner-up.

Truex also has 13 wins in the Xfinity Series and a win in the Craftsman Truck Series. Truex won the title and six races in each of his only two seasons of full-time Xfinity competition with Chance 2 Motorsports. His lone Truck Series win came in 2021 on the dirt at Bristol driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in La Crosse, Wisconsin as a local sports reporter, including local short track racing. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with of football, music, anime and video games.

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8 Comments
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Drew

This is the end of Martin Truex jr’s career and I will wish him a happy retirement.

Echo

Good for him…… set your own schedule and do what YOU want to do. That’s what I do so I applaud him and wish him happiness.

Bill B

Always nice to see someone not hang around too long and retire on their own terms. I applaud his decision.

Are you paying attention Denny?

Echo

lol

Tony

I never liked the guy, but very much do like seeing people get to retire because they want to, not because an injury forced it.

Echo

mmmm Joe could save many millions in salary paid out with the difference between truex and a young driver. But I think Truex made the decision.

gbvette62

I’ll be sorry to see him go, but I’m also happy for him. I live about 30 miles from where Truex grew up and have watched him and many members of the Truex clan race all around the northeast over the years.