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Martin Truex Jr. is in his final NASCAR Playoffs. After barely making it in, MTJ started with a poor showing at Atlanta. However, no driver is truly out of the Playoffs, so what is the path for MTJ to retire as a champion?
Fans and up-and-coming Toyota drivers long wondered when Martin Truex Jr. would retire from racing. The six-year veteran of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 has seen inconsistency in his past few seasons.
The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series Champion is on his second long-term losing streak while at JGR, the first of which was 54 races from 2021 to 2023. Now, in the midst of a 43-race losing streak, Truex will retire at the end of this season.
Truex’s announced retirement in June only added pressure to the drivers’ losing streak and inconsistency. While this is just the end of his full-time driving career, with plans for a Daytona 500 run in 2025, this seasons is his last shot at a second Cup Series title.
Truex barely made it into the 2024 Playoffs after back-to-back wins from underdog drivers and an early exit from the cutoff race at Darlington. Now, with points reset, can Truex not only recover from his regular season but a bad first race in the playoffs?
One race into the Round of 16, Truex finds himself 19 points under the cutline for the next Round. Fortunately, with Watkins Glen and Bristol right around the corner, there is a chance for him to recover.
Truex’s career at Bristol is not what some would expect from the typically stellar short-track racer. In 34 starts, Truex has just five top-tens, with lead lap finishes in under half of his starts at Bristol. Fortunately, this weekend, at Watkins Glen, Truex is racing one of his best tracks, with 11 top-tens in 17 career starts.
In the Round of 12, his luck will more than likely be found at Kansas, where Truex has two wins and an average finish of 12.6. Unless, of course, if Truex can get that elusive first Superspeedway win at Talladega.
If he advances, with four races left, Truex is in luck. Las Vegas and Homestead-Miami are Truex’s first and fourth-best tracks based on career average finish. At both tracks, Truex has finished in the top ten 18 times in 29 career races, with three wins.
Upon advancing past the Round of Eight, Phoenix will be Truex’s final challenge. Early in his career, Truex struggled at the track. However, in his last ten races at Phoenix, Truex has six top tens and one win, including a top ten this spring.
Truex was once the ultimate underdog at Furniture Row Racing. This year, it feels as if the aging veteran is back in that spot. The only question is, can he come out of nowhere and win the big one one final time?
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