“You Miss A Lot And You’re Always Gone”: Did Martin Truex Jr. Retire From NASCAR Due To The Calendar?

Martin Truex Jr. announced earlier this year that 2024 would be his final year racing full-time in the Cup Series. He cited the heavy workload and the desire to spend more time with his family as the primary reasons for deciding to call it quits. Would he have stayed had there been fewer races on the Cup Series schedule? His younger brother, Ryan Truex, believes so.

The Xfinity Series part-timer was recently on the 12 Questions series with The Athletic magazine. The previous guest, Juan Pablo Montoya, had asked him the question: “Would you prefer NASCAR runs a 20-race schedule instead of 36 so people can have more of a life?” Ryan responded to it by citing the situation of his brother.

He expressed that 36 is certainly a lot for many of the drivers and noted how he couldn’t make it through a full-time schedule in the premier tier. He’d given it a shot in 2014 driving for BK Racing but gave up 21 races into the show. He continued to clarify his opinion that 26 or 28 races on the calendar would be comfortable for most.

He added, “If it was 20, Martin wouldn’t have retired. I think a lot of guys wouldn’t have been retired as early as they were. When you do it for 20 years and you never have off-weekends and you race through the summer, he’s missed a lot of birthdays and weddings and celebrations. You miss a lot and you’re always gone.” And these drivers don’t get their weekdays completely off either.

Such a heavy load is bound to take its toll on mental and physical health. Ryan noted that fewer races would mean that even the media, the crew, and other stakeholders would have a comfortable life that could in turn help them be more efficient in their work. Such words of logic have come from other drivers including Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski as well.

But it is unlikely that NASCAR could go down that path in the future. The 2025 schedule will have races from April 27 straight to November 2 without a single weekend off. At the end of the day, all these decisions come down to which format generates the most revenue. Should there be an opportunity to capitalize better on a shorter schedule, the promotion could jump at it.