According to Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, it is expected that Martin Truex Jr will announce his retirement from fulltime NASCAR competition at the end of the 2024 season. The announcement is expected during his Friday press conference ahead of the Iowa Corn 350. Unlike his recent contemporaries, Truex will forgo any official, season-long retirement tour. It is doubtful that Truex knew his retirement plans at the start of the season anyway. While the topic of Truex retiring has been one of discussion for a couple of seasons, it never seemed that Truex was delaying a decision for the sake of it. Still, Truex was the oldest fulltime Cup driver running. Plus, 2024 has been another frustrating season, similar to 2022. After 19 seasons, Truex will call it a career that will be immortalized in the Hall of Fame.
The announcement to retire will come shortly after Martin Truex Jr ran out of gas while in second place at Sonoma. It served as a perfect spotlight to a season of frustration. Honestly, you can trace the aggravation back to the start of the 2023 playoffs. After questions about a potential retirement post a winless season in 2022, Truex responded by winning 3 times and the regular season championship last year. However, the good times ended once Daytona wrapped up. To call Truex’s playoff run a disaster would be an understatement. Bad luck, decisions, and performance plagued the 19 team. From regular season champion to being bounced before the Championship Four. 2024 has been better, but Truex is still winless. Not only is he winless, the races he has “lost” have been in brutal ways.
Martin Truex Jr Battling Through 2024
Through the first 16 races of the season, there have been four where Martin Truex Jr had a realistic (if not expected) shot at winning. Bristol, Richmond, Kansas, and Sonoma each had Truex on the verge of winning. Bristol and Sonoma came down to the inability to pass the leader. While Truex had the faster car, he could not slip by. At Bristol, it was Denny Hamlin. For Sonoma, Chris Buescher held up Truex until Kyle Larson entered the battle. Had Truex managed to get around Buescher early, he could have pulled away from Larson (and maybe saved some fuel).
Richmond is where the first hint of frustration came to the surface. A late race caution setup a green-white-checkered finish. Lining up along side Denny Hamlin, Truex looked to be the better car. However, Hamlin jumped the restart then used his teammate up in Turns 1 and 2. Unable to recover, Truex slipped back for a 4th place finish. After the race, Truex took his frustrations out on Kyle Larson, who raced him hard coming to the line.
During the closing laps of Kansas, Martin Truex Jr closed in quickly on Denny Hamlin. With fresher tires, Truex more easily navigated the lapped traffic that gave Hamlin troubles. If the race remained green, it is almost a certainty that Truex wins that race. However, Kyle Busch goes for a spin, brings out the caution, and a four-tire stop later sees Truex restart 11th. While he charged forward to finish 4th, a late race caution spoiled a win.
If Truex wins any of these 4 races, does that change the upcoming announcement? Probably not. However, the frustration from these races certainly did not encourage a comeback.
Reflecting on Hall of Fame Career
Sitting here in 2024, Martin Truex Jr is a certifiable future NASCAR Hall of Fame member. His Cup Series championship alone essentially locks him in. However, Truex has racked up 34 wins (tied for 25th all-time) along with 146 Top-5s, 287 Top-10s, and an average finish of 15.1. Plus, Truex won back-to-back Xfinity Series championships. It is difficult to argue against that resumé. If you had told a race fan back in 2014 that Truex would be a future Hall of Famer, they would have been skeptical.
Through 2014, Truex only had 2 wins in his Cup Series career. The talent did not seem to be the question though, evident by his 2 second series championships. Between Dale Earnhardt Incorporated (DEI) and Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR), there were some complications with the teams who employed Truex. That changed starting in 2015 when Truex was paired with Cole Pearn as crew chief. Truex’s average finish improved by 8 spots from the season prior. From that improvement came the breakout in 2016 when Furniture Row Racing formed a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Serving as essentially JGR’s fifth car, Truex went on a tear from 2016 through 2018. In those 3 seasons, Truex collected 16 wins with a Top-5 in 43% of the races. Truex became a fixture of the front pack, leading 16.7% of the laps ran. After the closure of Furniture Row Racing, Martin Truex Jr joined Joe Gibbs Racing proper and continued to dominate. 2019 saw Truex visit victory lane 7 times.
To call Truex a late bloomer would be an understatement. While there have been other drivers to have late career resurgences, Truex never had the initial great run at the beginning of his career. It was a bit unexpected to see Truex dominate the way he did. There were plenty of Truex fans who believed he was capable of this, but it took a bit (and the right circumstances) for it arrive.
Quiet Dominance
While fans can grow to loathe a driver who dominates, that never truly happened for Martin Truex Jr. Sure, fans got tired of the winning but never hated the man. Far from bombastic and in your face, Truex remained reserved. That is why a mid-season retirement announcement with little fanfare is quintessential Truex. If not for social media and journalists, Truex might have dropped his retirement news as an aside to another announcement that was ongoing.
While Martin Truex Jr might not be everybody’s favorite driver, it is difficult to find many who outright hate him. Even when he dominated the Cup Series in the late 2010s, fans might not have enjoyed him winning but few hated him. It is not like Kyle Busch or Denny Hamlin, who actively antagonized the fanbases who loathed them. Honestly, this season might be the most animated the NASCAR world has seen Truex in some time.
Friday’s announcement will the see the final 16 races of the 2024 cap off a great career for Martin Truex Jr. Based on the speed shown, Truex could hoist a championship on his way out. Although, the way this season has gone might mirror Kevin Harvick’s futile efforts to win in his final season. Either way, Truex will go out while running well.
Looking Forward… To a Surprise?
With Martin Truex Jr retiring, the natural question now is who replaces him? Prior to today’s report, the initial thought pointed to one of the Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series drivers or John Hunter Nemechek switching over. Between the two JGR Xfinity drivers, Chandler Smith had the edge over Sheldon Creed. However, a new name has emerged as the front runner for the fourth JGR car.
Chase Briscoe
According to The Athletic, Chase Briscoe has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Martin Truex Jr. Certainly, this comes as a surprise to most. When the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing was announced, it felt predictable that Ford would work hard to keep Briscoe with the manufacturer. Whether that was the Wood Brothers, Front Row Motorsports, or wherever that fourth charter went, Briscoe would remain a Ford driver. Now, that does not seem likely.
From both perspectives, this move is logical. For Chase Briscoe, how do you turn down a ride with one of the premier Cup Series teams? One could argue loyalty to Ford, but which would car would you rather driver next year: the 19 JGR or the 21 Wood Brothers? If Joe Gibbs Racing is calling, you at least pick up the phone and see what they have to say. Unless there is a similar offer, it would be difficult to turn down a JGR ride.
Meanwhile, Chase Briscoe is arguably the top (known) free agent on the market. Despite a folding team, Briscoe is firmly in the playoff hunt. He is a Cup Series winner with talent, which could blossom if put in a top ride. JGR could see the potential with Briscoe in their equipment. Also, Briscoe brings in funding, albeit that is not confirmed. Briscoe said in a virtual press conference this week that his sponsors wanted him to land a ride first, then negotiate with the team that brings him in. It is expected Mahindra Tractors and High Point will remain with Briscoe though. Currently, it is not known whether Bass Pro Shops will stay with JGR. Likely, the sponsor will depart JGR along with Truex’s retirement.
No announcement is imminent about Martin Truex Jr’s replacement, so it is not in stone that Briscoe goes to Joe Gibbs Racing. However, that is the expectation. Briscoe in JGR equipment could see the return of his Xfinity Series form.
