With three wins, a lead in the points standings, and a NASCAR championship push ahead, the good times are rolling again for Martin Truex Jr.
So why quit now?
Joe Gibbs asked himself the same question about Truex as the 82-year-old Hall of Fame owner tries to keep Monday’s winner at New Hampshire in the fold of his race team for one more season before retiring.
“He tells me the same thing every year, that ‘I’m right in the middle of trying to make this decision,'” Gibbs said. “I go, ‘Come on, what are you talking about, man? You’re making money, you’re having fun, you’re driving race cars. Come on.'”
The 43-year-old Truex, who is 0 for 19 in the Daytona 500, is publicly pondering retirement for a second straight season. The JGR driver quieted season-long speculation last June that he could retire at the end of 2022 with a succinct statement: ” I’m back. “
He struggled in the first season of NASCAR’s new Next Gen stock car. He failed to win a race or make the playoffs for the first time since 2014. This season, however, he’s won three of the last 10 Cup races and has four other top 10s over that span.
And now he’s conflicted about what lies ahead.
“I’m bad at making big decisions,” said Truex, who has won 34 races (19 with JGR), the 2017 championship and has three season runner-up finishes. “I wish I had more time to figure out what I want to do next year, but I don’t. So I’ll know soon and you’ll know soon.”
One person close to Truex, however, thinks he knows how the Cup driver is leaning for 2024.
“The way they’re running, I would be surprised if he retired,” his father, Martin Truex Sr., told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “But that’s up to him.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.