After 19 seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series, Martin Truex Jr. will be hanging up his racing suit at the end of 2024. The driver announced his retirement at a press conference in Iowa on Friday afternoon in the simplest of ways, befitting his character. While he is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest to grace motorsports, is he bound to be inducted into the Hall of Fame someday?
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In a book on NASCAR, Truex’s journey over the past two decades would be a chapter titled “Perseverance”. The New Jersey native gained promotion to the Cup Series after winning consecutive Xfinity Series championships in 2004 and 2005. He joined Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) in 2006 and grabbed his first win in 2007. Unfortunately for him, the team hit a rough patch just then.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had decided to move to Hendrick Motorsports and the team was left behind in a chaotic field of mergers and ownership changes. Finishing 23rd in the 2009 season, Truex cut ties with DEI and joined Michael Waltrip Racing in the hopes of greener pastures. Though he wasn’t a hit right off the bat, he did show great signs of improvement over the seasons.
His best finish with the team came in 2012 (11th). But that was the highest point of his climb. Embroiled in controversy over manipulating a race finish in 2013, Michael Waltrip Racing faced severe fines. Though he wasn’t directly involved in any malpractice, Truex was given a 50-point penalty. Sponsors chose to withdraw in the aftermath and he was once again left without a team to race for.
The rock bottom of Martin Truex Jr.’s career and subsequent resurgence
His next stop was Furniture Row Racing. At this point in his career, nobody expected miracles out of him, and neither did he produce one. The 2014 season ended up being his worst run ever as he finished 24th in the standings. Hitting rock bottom, his path finally changed with Cole Pearn becoming his crew chief in 2015. The combination clicked immediately.
The 2015 season saw the duo collect multiple top-10 finishes and enter the Championship 4 in a complete turnaround. Capturing 12 victory flags over the following two seasons, Truex was finally crowned a Cup Series champion in 2017. After he finished runner-up in 2018, Furniture Row Racing decided to dissolve and he joined Joe Gibbs Racing to have a string of solid seasons leading till now.
In the first half of his journey, Truex had just two wins in the premier tier. In the later half, he secured 32 wins and a championship. He also has three runner-up finishes in the elimination format. Despite all the tricks and turns fate cast over him over the last 19 years, he ended up mastering the track in a way few have done. He leaves the jury with no option but to acknowledge him as a future Hall of Famer.
