Martin Truex Jr.’s 19th full-time season has begun with him making a list that very few elite drivers can claim to be on. By finishing the first two races on the 2024 Cup Series calendar, the Joe Gibbs Racing star has extended his streak of consecutive superspeedway race finishes to 21 and level with Dale Jr. However, Kevin Harvick’s record might still be out of reach for him.
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The Dale Jr. record that Truex has now tied is the fourth-longest streak in Cup Series history. Dale Earnhardt Sr. edges them slightly with 22 finishes. Even further up is retired Precision Products Racing driver Rick Mast (25). Tall above these stars is the now-retired racing icon Kevin Harvick with 35 finishes.
In the 23 years that Harvick spent in the top tier, he won 60 races. Of these, three came from racing in superspeedways. Truex Jr. on the other hand is yet to win a race in a superspeedway track. While he could very well get past Earnhardt Sr. and even Rick Mast in his number of consecutive appearances on the high-speed surfaces, reaching the order of Harvick is almost impossible.
Atlanta on Sunday was Martin Truex Jr’s 21st CONSECUTIVE Superspeedway race without a DNF.
This tied Dale Earnhardt Jr for the 4th longest stretch in NASCAR Cup Series history
1. Kevin Harvick – 35 in a row
2. Rick Mast – 25
3. Dale Earnhardt – 22
4. Earnhardt Jr/Truex Jr – 21 pic.twitter.com/Qb4W9HHLBj— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) February 26, 2024
The biggest reason for this is the talk of retirement that Truex Jr. continually teases the fandom with. Over the last two years, the dark cloud has surrounded him, and of his own accord, the driver has refused to let it move elsewhere.
Martin Truex Jr.’s tryst with the idea of retirement from racing
Truex Jr.’s latest contract renewals with Joe Gibbs Racing have all been of a single year. The one for 2024 came in August last year after a long discussion with Coach Gibbs amid his successful regular season run. However, his future beyond the ongoing season is still unclear.
Ahead of the Daytona 500 earlier this month, Truex Jr. mentioned that he had “no idea” regarding what 2025 would take him. Already the oldest driver on the grid at 43, he will turn 44 in June. He recently said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that a championship in 2024 would be a nice way to go out. However, he did also say before the season’s onset that he wasn’t yet done writing his story.
His revelations to the fandom thus far present a confusing narrative of his plans at best. While completing the upcoming 4 superspeedway races in this year’s calendar would put him level with Rick Mast, he will need to grab the wheels for longer if he wants to see Harvick on the horizon.
