LOUDON, N.H. (AP) — 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 Hall of Fame owner tries to keep Monday’s winner at New Hampshire in the fold of his eponymous race team for one more season.
The 82-year-old Gibbs playfully nudged Truex to make the call soon: Retire or give it another run at JGR.
“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.”
If Gibbs can’t get an easy answer yet, maybe he should consult Truex’s dad.
The retired racer, who won a regional stock car race at New Hampshire 29 years earlier, believed a big rebound season for his son may fuel the resolve to return in the No. 19 Toyota in 2024.
“The way they’re running, I would be surprised if he retired,” the elder Truex said Tuesday by phone. “But that’s up to him.”
The JGR driver has publicly pondered retirement for a second straight season. Truex quieted season-long speculation last June that he could retire at the end of 2022 with a succinct statement: “ I’m back. “
Last year, the possibility of retirement seemed a bit more understandable. The 43-year-old Truex 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 when he drove for now-defunct Furniture Row Racing, the organization where he would shortly undergo a career rebirth and win the 2017 championship.
Once FRR went away, Truex moved to Gibbs and won seven races in his first season. He’s a three-time championship runner-up since moving to Gibbs and he’s won 19 races since joining the organization — including his first one in 30 tries at New Hampshire.
Truex insisted he’s honestly conflicted about the outcome.
“I’m bad at making big decisions,” he said.
Truex has figured out the car and the results show he’s in sync with crew chief James Small. Truex has won three of the last 10 Cup races — oddly, Dover and New Hampshire were on Mondays — and has four other top 10s over that span.
“I think it’s just learning these new cars,” Truex Sr. said. “It’s a whole new different package. It takes a little time, especially with no practicing. So whoever hits it is gonna look like a superstar.”
And that’s his son right now.
