43-year-old Martin Truex Jr. has long been playing hide-and-seek with retirement in the Cup Series. The opportunities for him to win a second championship keep dimming down as every passing season appears more likely to be his last one. Riding a corner having not won a race in the ongoing 2024 season yet, can he take one worthy ultimate shot at the title should this be his final run?
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Racing icon Jeff Burton discussed the prospect along with former crew chief Steve Letarte on NBC recently. He said, “He still has plenty of speed. Speed is not the problem. Can they do all the small things necessary to take that next step? I don’t feel like they have this issue with not going fast. They have this issue with executing.”
Truex Jr. currently sits second on the points table and is the only driver in the top 5 without a victory to his name, but has secured four top-5s and seven top-10s. He came frustratingly close to winning on a couple of occasions over the season’s first 13 races but couldn’t execute, as picked out by Burton. Continuing his analysis on NBC, the icon expressed his fascination for the situation that Truex Jr. is in.
“A guy that is toward the end of his career publicly talks about it,” he said, trying to break down the driver’s thought process. “What’s his approach to the playoffs? What’s his approach to winning a championship in a year in a time in his career where he only has stuff to gain and nothing to lose? I just find it fascinating that he doesn’t know if he’s gonna be back next year or not.”
Will Martin Truex Jr. retire at the end of the 2024 Cup Series season?
When asked about the plans for his retirement at the beginning of the season, he said that he didn’t have any idea as to what he was going to be doing. He turns 44 in a few weeks time and will be the oldest driver in the field when he does so, surpassing Denny Hamlin who turns 44 in November. As this play with age continues, he also battles a winless streak of 29 races.
It is a good moment to look back at the championship campaigns of Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney who won the title over the last two years despite having similar winless streaks during the season and not being the favorites. With all the experience on his side, the only missing factor for the Joe Gibbs Racing star to be called champion once again is a little bit of luck.
