Martin Truex Jr. Retiring This Season Would’ve Been “The Hardest Decision” as Per 3x DAYTONA 500 Winner

After months and months of speculation, Martin Truex Jr. finally put all the talks and doubts and questions and answers to rest when he announced he’d be coming back to NASCAR for at least the next season as well. Truex’s future was a big point of discussion over the last few months, and many believed this season could be his last in the sport.

But him retiring at the end of this season would’ve been quite a peculiar situation. Because the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has arguably been the best driver of them all this season, being the points leader in the regular season championship, with 3 wins to his name. This was a point that Dale Jarrett also touched upon regarding this subject recently.

Dale Jarrett believes Truex retiring at the end of this season would’ve been odd

Ahead of the race in Michigan, Jarrett was asked by his fellow broadcaster how hard it would’ve been for Truex Jr. to walk away from NASCAR considering how good he has been running this season. Jarrett replied, “Can’t do that, I don’t think, there have been very few … when things are going well, as a competitor, it’s the hardest decision you can possibly make.”

“Easy to make that decision when it’s not. You know last year he was struggling, he was talking more about it. So this does not surprise me. Glad that he’s gonna be back. But when the time comes, it’s the hardest thing to do as an athlete.”

Martin Truex Jr. finally got convinced by Joe Gibbs it seems

Of course, Truex announcing he’d be continuing in NASCAR for the next season was a matter of celebration for his fans, his team, and his boss.  But last month, his boss Joe Gibbs explained how he tried to convince his driver who was contemplating his future.

“He tells me the same thing every year, that I’m right in the middle of trying to make this decision,” Gibbs said as per ESPN. “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.”

Clearly, Truex listened to Coach as he described after making his future clear, that it didn’t feel right to not come back and keep doing what they’re doing. The veteran claimed that now this is out of the way, he’s excited to work on this year and the coming year.

Because the way things are going, it’s not all that unlikely that by the time he ends his career, he has more than one Cup championship.