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Martin Truex Jr’s NASCAR career won’t end after the 2025 season. The driver was very clear that he would run part-time after this season, specifically at Daytona. Here’s everything we know as of now.
Truex began his NASCAR career at Chance 2 Motorsports, a predecessor to JR Motorsports. With Dale Jr.’s endorsement, Truex won two NASCAR Xfinity Series championships and rose to become the driver of the No. 1 at Dale Earnhardt Incorporated.
Despite an early win, his time at DEI was rather short, and he found himself at Michael Waltrip Racing. Truex won one race at MWR before team controversy found him out of No. 56 at the end of 2013.
Landing at underdog Furniture Row Racing, Truex, and the No. 78 would go on a whirlwind yet short ride to the top of NASCAR. Winning the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series title would be the pinnacle for the pair before money and sponsorship sent Truex to associate team Joe Gibbs Racing for 2019.
Since joining JGR, Truex has continued to win, locking himself a future spot in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The only race he couldn’t seem to win was the Daytona 500.
In fact, Truex has not won a Cup Series points race on a Superspeedway, coming up just a few inches short of Denny Hamlin in 2016.
When he announced his impending retirement at Iowa, Truex was notably open to racing part-time in the future.
While few details are confirmed, most pieces of the 2025 Daytona 500 puzzle are public.
Almost immediately after Truex announced his retirement, reporters flocked to teammate and 23XI Racing owner Denny Hamlin. Hamlin told Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports that rather than being just a fill-in driver in 2025, Hamlin has bigger plans for Truex.
The industry knew little about whether or not Truex and 23XI would actually team up for Daytona or if Truex would race at Daytona at all. On the July 3 episode of the Dale Jr Download, Truex said that it was all but confirmed.
“I’m not exactly sure yet, but… you know, it looks like, it’s pretty… It’s almost a guarantee right now. I feel like that, I’ll probably run the Daytona 500. Which… not a done deal yet, but I feel like, you know, it shouldn’t be too hard to finish that up.” — Martin Truex Jr. on the Dale Jr Download
On Wednesday at NASCAR Playoff media day, Truex revealed more about his 2025 bid for the Daytona 500. The first Easter egg came from Jenna Fryer of AP Sports, who said that his longtime Crew Chief and friend Cole Pearn would return to call the shots for the car.
Pearn and Truex set the world on fire at FRR and JGR from 2015 to 2019. The two combined for 24 wins, 12 poles, and one Cup Series Championship, impressive for the perceived underdogs at the time.
Furthermore, Jayski reported late Wednesday afternoon that Truex would run the No. 56 or No. 78. While many fans would hope to see the No. 78 back on the track, B.J. McLeod is the most recent driver to use the number.
McLeod enters most Superspeedway races in his now unchartered car. If he were to enter Daytona, B.J. might be willing to enter a new number so the former Champ could take his old one for one last ride.
No matter the number, fans are hopeful that one more shot is all MTJ needs to finally hook the big one.
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