“If We Lost Martin..” – Dale Earnhardt Jr. Reasons Why Martin Truex Jr. Should Not Retire at the End of 2023 NASCAR Season

After an impressive performance in a race he dominated pretty much the whole time, Martin Truex Jr. finally got that elusive win at New Hampshire, thereby breaking his 29-race winless streak here. However, much of the conversation after the race shifted to Truex Jr.’s potential retirement from the sport at the end of the season. This is something even Dale Earnhardt Jr., Treux’s close friend, spoke about at length on Dale Jr. Download.

Notably, the post-race comments made by Truex Jr. himself made many wonder if he would hang his helmet at the end of the year.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. does not want Martin Truex Jr. to retire

During the Ask Jr. segment of his show, Earnhardt was asked about the same. The two-time Daytona 500 winner said, “I hope he races. Me and Truex, I consider us to be close pals, and man I begged Rick Hendrick to hire him when he was between drivers. I don’t remember if it was Mark leaving or Kasey leaving, but that was uh, there was a time when I had a hard time convincing Rick to change the route he was going down, and also to understand what kind of a driver Martin was.”

“If we lost Martin, we’d be losing a really cool personality and a very unique person that’s fun to pull for. I know that he’s ruffled some feathers with some comments in the past about, you know, especially with Joey Logano, he won the battle but he won’t win the war, and then they go to Homestead and he loses the war to Joey. I know all that changed people’s minds about Martin at points and I could read that and social media and so forth. But dang man, man of few words, when he speaks, he genuinely has something to say that matters to him.”

Much in line with Truex’s response to the media, Junior concluded by saying, “I don’t know how much more he could do, you know, does he stick around and grind out a couple more years for a few more wins and even if he wins a championship this year, I don’t know if that keeps him around. We’re all waiting, so we’ll see.”

What did Martin Truex Jr. say after the win at New Hampshire

Admitting that he is someone who is bad at making big decisions, Truex did seem to be indecisive after the race. The #19 driver highlighted that there were multiple factors to consider before he takes the call, saying, “It takes a lot, it’s not just show up the track, drive, go home. Take a lot, a lot of commitment, a lot of travel, a lot of time missing things with family and friends, and all those things that I’ve done for, you know, 25 years.” Do I want to keep doing it? And am I willing to sacrifice all those things again for my team? So that’s just what I’m thinking about.”

For now, Truex has his eyes set on his second Cup Series championship. Many analysts consider him a favorite, something that seemed unimaginable six months ago, considering he failed to even qualify for the playoffs in 2022.