Joe Gibbs Breaks Silence on Martin Truex Jr.’s Future in NASCAR: “It’s Pressure for All of Us”

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. is on a run the last couple of months, picking up three wins and three top 5s in the last 10 races. He has been looking like a championship contender and sits pretty at the top of the points table. Off the track, there has been rampant speculation regarding Truex’s career and retirement plans. Recently, the same question was posed to his team owner, Joe Gibbs.

During the press conference following the race at NHMS, Gibbs spoke about how the 2017 champion had been saying he’ll retire almost every year but still has not, also mentioning how he keeps trying to convince the #19 to stay with the team.

Joe Gibbs talks about Martin Truex Jr.’s retirement plans

Speaking after the impressive win, Gibbs stated, “I wish – hey, will you please talk to him for me? He tells me the same thing every year, that I’m right in the middle of trying to make this decision.”

“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. But no, we haven’t – I think it is, though, very important for us to kind of have some pressure here because it’s pressure for all of us.”

“It’s a huge deal for us. I’m hoping – I really felt like he’s having such, I think, a great year, and I think he’s having fun, and so I’m hoping that we get a good answer for us here.”

Truex Jr. collects third win for the 2023 season

The 2017 Cup Series champion just won his 3rd race this season with the conclusion of the New Hampshire race weekend. After a string of incredible performances over the last 10 weekends including three wins, he moved up to the top of the regular season championship. Meanwhile, his closest competitor William Byron with 4 wins this season ranks in second place.

Now with the playoffs coming up in just a couple of weeks, Truex would be entering the postseason on a high. There’s all the more reason looking at his current performance that he might be gunning for that second championship title. Although, he will surely have tough competition in the form of his former teammate, Kyle Busch, and several others. Maybe a second Cup Series championship is what Truex is waiting for to make up his mind about his future in the sport?