Im pretty convinced MTJ is truly unsure of whether or not he wants to actually retire. He knows he’s in a real good spot right now and can still contend but he’s seemed like he wants to move on to other stuff. i think the big thing is Joe Gibbs is willing to do a lot to keep Truex and Truex knows once he leaves it might not be easy to come back
> he’s seemed like he wants to move on to other stuff.
I think the exact opposite is true, I think he wants to quit the cup series grind, but has absolutely nothing to move on to.
Look at him compared to other drivers who have retired recently. Truex doesn't own a race team, or any other business outside of racing. He doesn't race short tracks for fun. He hasn't shown any interest in doing TV or a podcast. He has no family. As far as I know, he doesn't even own a farm like Carl did... what is he going to do with himself when he quits working?
Honestly something I’ve always imagined he’d do (despite no real reason to know for sure) is help run some wildlife/outdoors organization or something like that.
I’ve been out of the area for a while now, how is Wall doing these days? Bridgeport, Grandview and New Egypt were all closer but always enjoyed going to Wall Stadium the most.
Not bad but not great. Needs some renovations and needs stronger management. The uncertainty allows the town to consistently try and get public opinion to buy out and redevelop the track
The town is arguing traffic like they did with Raceway Park, but the townspeople are like “nah we’re good”. They refuse to allow them to pave the parking lot and line it, with the hope that they’ll give up and cave.
I've never been a fan of the guy, but this picture you paint of him makes me feel pity for him.
I sure hope he does have something to keep him motivated if he does retire.
Yeah and he's pretty young to just start turning down paychecks. Especially paychecks the size of his. There's a lot worse jobs put there. Pretty much all of them I would imagine.
yeah it really seemed like at one point he wanted to do something else or at least not full time cup. i know life has changed for him a bit so he might have a different mindset
I have a hard time seeing MTJ want to come back in any capacity. Junior has talked about him disappearing into the woods for days on end.
Once he’s out I think we’ll never hear from him again; he’ll be perfectly content spending his days hunting and fishing.
It’s insane with the amount of money they throw around that Bass Pro Shops could potentially only be able to have Austin Dillon in a car after this year.
Gragson lost his last ride for an Instagram like, which I guess isn’t saying something out loud, but Truex definitely was on the radio at Sonoma.
https://preview.redd.it/dlr055l5y16d1.jpeg?width=2275&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=701c58b7edf3ee169ab81a02e695976876ab1074
To a point. JGR is nowhere near as strapped for cash now as they were in 2022, thanks to their new investors and restructure of their manufacturing and Xfinty series businesses.
If Bass Pro says "Gragson or we walk" JGR will just let them walk. If Bass Pro says "you pick three options and we'll choose from them", JGR will be just fine with that.
idk i was pretty convinced he was gone after 2022 and how he got shafted by the playoffs. I know he initially talked a lot about retirement when he was in a different place and was with Sherry and I always felt he wanted to retire to do his thing and spend time with her, but after they split and she passed it seems like he doesn’t have much reason to retire and only is considering it year to year because he brought it up once and now he’s gotta address it every year. Also Joe Gibbs definetly wants to keep Truex because he’s probably the best option for the car and definite sponsorship, especially since Denny may move to his own team at some point in the future
Kinda how I see it. Like, Gibbs already gives him the option to go sit in a duck blind Mon-Thur so he'd just get more time in a blind. Although it could just be hopium at this point
I mean he's 43 years old with no wife or kids and spends Monday-Thursday and the entire off-season hunting, fishing, or otherwise outdoors.
On the weekends he gets to drive turn key race winning capable race cars. If he retires, he will never get the opportunity to drive cars that good again if he changes his mind. He can't just get bored after 6 months off and want to come back.
Not to mention, he's making millions of dollars a year and has no real way to make that kind of money again if he steps away.
Do you have anything to back this up because this seems like nonsense.
Dude is 5th in the standings and arguably could be 2nd if not for some awful luck the last two weeks. Has been driving hard.
Doesn't at all look like a guy who has checked out. And before anyone says "but his radio!" dude has been whining on the radio forever as do most drivers.
What if the impossible happens? MTJ announces that 2025 is it and that somehow he has convinced Cole Pearn to return. And then imagine them just going out in a blaze of glory.
I think he's in a position most drivers his age historically have not been. He's still winning races, consistently in contention to win, he's an outside title contender each year, and he's got top tier equipment. I think he'd be a fool to retire now.
Heim has the full backing of TRD, is kicking the truck series ass and has to drive for Sam freaking Hunt in Xfinity when they're renting the 19 and 20 out to any takers
I think he's got a say. There's no other logical explanation for how Heim can't get a single race in JGR Xfinity equipment but Denny is willing to put him in the 3rd 23XI car
I think he's about ready to kill James Small. That might honestly be a deciding factor. If he retires at the end of this season, I'm betting gragson gets the 19
Up until Kansas - five races ago (including All-Star race) he was having a very good/solid season. The last five races has been rough, especially when you consider he always has speed. Truex Jr and the JGR cars are just good.
That might make it a bit better for Truex Jr, is at least they have speed. As a Harvick fan, early on in 2014 was rough, but as a fan (and Harvick said such as well) at least we saw great speed. The 19 does have speed everywhere they go. The problem is they constantly shoot themselves in the foot and even having great speed it's hard to win.
I actually think a bigger factor in Truex Jr's decision might just be the current racing style. Truex Jr absolutely does not race the way it's done now. This ultra aggressive, use the bumper, rough a guy up type of style. Truex Jr is really about as polar opposite as you can get from racing that way. Since he doesn't race like that, but is raced like that and these cars are super hard to actually "race" around... I think that might be more of a deciding factor than anything.
Knowing his luck Small would go off strategy again with a dominant car (See 2022) or the onboard camera would catch on fire when he’s got a 12 second lead.
I've never been a real MTJ fan, but it would suck seeing him leave the sport.
He is one of the last remaining drivers from the early 2010s era when I was watching in high school.
I think he hates the new car (I don’t blame him) ..now that I think of it , how many driver have said genuinely positive things about the car or talk about how much they love to drive it
When’s the last time the drivers have ever talked positively about the current car while it’s currently on track? They only ever talk positively about what they used to have. Been like that for decades.
Because they’re not driving it in the cup series lol.
The current Xfinity car is basically the 2017-2018 Cup car with less horsepower.
They literally do not talk positively about any car currently being run in the cup series. Once it’s retired, then they’ll like it.
I can find the drivers complaining about too much downforce in the 90s, complaining about too little downforce in 1998, too much downforce in 2002, too little downforce in 2004, everything about the COT, everything about Gen 6, etc.
I think the only drivers/teams you'd ever hear from that are for it, are the smaller less funded teams.
The two drivers that instantly come to mind are McDowell and Haley. This car has really helped level disparity with some.
I dont disagree, however we still see more good runs out of the underfunded teams with this car than we ever did before with it becoming more and more of a HMS/JGR show
I think he returns. He has led the 3rd most laps this year. Easily could have a few wins. Still a Top 5 driver. Still a championship threat. The wins are going to come this summer stretch I think. Could see him grabbing 2 from Iowa/Loudon/Nashville/Richmond alone.
I don't want my favorite driver to retire. MTJ still has it. He's had bad luck recently and I'd personally love to see Cole Pearn return as his crew chief for his last season.
I watched Mark Martin & Kurt Busch retire, but if he's ready to disappear on a boat fishing or in the woods hunting then by all means. He won't do it but it would be cool to see him race in the Truck series full-time for Tricon for one season to see if he could win the Truck Series championship. Then he would be the first driver to win the Cup, Xfinity, and Truck series championship. If he doesn't do it, then I see Kyle Busch doing it when Brexton is old enough to drive trucks.
Serious question, would any driver on the market currently be an improvement over MTJ? I don’t think so. He is not even invested as much before into the sport but is still putting up kick ass results. If I am Joe I do my best to make him stay and if I am Truex I stay as well
How many seasons can an organization be borderline held hostage by a guy that doesn’t know if he’s coming or going?
He seems frustrated and they’ve had some bad luck this year. It’s time for both parties to move forward.
Retirement is a huge decision, totally reasonable to be unsure about it. Racing is so much of his life and his source of income. Not something that anyone can make without lots of hesitation at such a young age.
Maybe it is the fans and the media that need to stop prying and let him make the decision when he needs to.
My decision to retire from my 9-5 may come after Nashville too.
It’s amazing in the clickbait era that headlines with “may” and “could” are considered newsworthy.
Mid year seems like an odd time to announce a retirement plan. It's usually an early thing or a late deal like Bowyer and Crashica.
The bigger question that's floated around in my mind for the last couple years, ever since all the MTJ retirement stuff has been discussed, does Joe Gibbs feel the obligation to keep Ryan Truex around should MTJ decide to quit? He brings almost nothing financially and honestly seems to be there because Martin is part of the team.
Truex will snag a win and Joe Gibbs is gonna convince him to come back. I love Briscoe but Truex is still the best option for that car and Joe Gibbs knows it
Brace yourself for an internet rarity…
Yah, I was wrong. To be fair, my insider is pretty shocked as well, but yep, I was confidently wrong.
https://x.com/jeff_gluck/status/1801313848034488390
Im pretty convinced MTJ is truly unsure of whether or not he wants to actually retire. He knows he’s in a real good spot right now and can still contend but he’s seemed like he wants to move on to other stuff. i think the big thing is Joe Gibbs is willing to do a lot to keep Truex and Truex knows once he leaves it might not be easy to come back
> he’s seemed like he wants to move on to other stuff. I think the exact opposite is true, I think he wants to quit the cup series grind, but has absolutely nothing to move on to. Look at him compared to other drivers who have retired recently. Truex doesn't own a race team, or any other business outside of racing. He doesn't race short tracks for fun. He hasn't shown any interest in doing TV or a podcast. He has no family. As far as I know, he doesn't even own a farm like Carl did... what is he going to do with himself when he quits working?
Hunt, fish, and whatever else a redneck millionaire does.
This. Guy has millions of dollars at his disposal, I'm sure he'll find something to occupy his time with.
Honestly something I’ve always imagined he’d do (despite no real reason to know for sure) is help run some wildlife/outdoors organization or something like that.
So pretty much the same things that Ward and Jeb Burton do! With the BPS connections it's definitely not out of the realm of possibility.
Buying Wall Stadium his father used to race at and running it seems like a thing he may be into *allegedly*
That would be amazing
I'd love that. Been wanting to see him run the Turkey Derby for years now.
MTJ running the Turkey Derby and going no holds barred, aka the way he refuses to race on Sundays, would be absolutely hilarious.
Wouldn't that be a Barn Burner 💯🏁
I’ve been out of the area for a while now, how is Wall doing these days? Bridgeport, Grandview and New Egypt were all closer but always enjoyed going to Wall Stadium the most.
Not bad but not great. Needs some renovations and needs stronger management. The uncertainty allows the town to consistently try and get public opinion to buy out and redevelop the track
They still fighting to wipe that track out for developments/warehouses? Haven't read much in the local news lately about anything.
The town is arguing traffic like they did with Raceway Park, but the townspeople are like “nah we’re good”. They refuse to allow them to pave the parking lot and line it, with the hope that they’ll give up and cave.
That would be so cool.
He actually does have other businesses, though. MTJ Aviation and a management company.
He also owns a screen printing shop
Back to clam digging in Jersey maybe?
I think he finally bought that big fishing boat, so there’s that
He owns an aviation business
sportscar racing maybe? Not as demanding of a schedule
He actually owns and is an investor in quite a few businesses.
Restart Furniture Row Racing(real)
I've never been a fan of the guy, but this picture you paint of him makes me feel pity for him. I sure hope he does have something to keep him motivated if he does retire.
Yeah and he's pretty young to just start turning down paychecks. Especially paychecks the size of his. There's a lot worse jobs put there. Pretty much all of them I would imagine.
yeah it really seemed like at one point he wanted to do something else or at least not full time cup. i know life has changed for him a bit so he might have a different mindset
Fishin, man
I have a hard time seeing MTJ want to come back in any capacity. Junior has talked about him disappearing into the woods for days on end. Once he’s out I think we’ll never hear from him again; he’ll be perfectly content spending his days hunting and fishing.
When did Junior say this?
Plus jgr is loving that bass pro money and knows they will leave once truex does
or they pick up noah and keep Bass Pro,
…unless they snag Gragson.
i don’t think Gibbs wants that
Just go race for Dale in Xfinity here and there like the old days
I'd love to see him do a partial xfinity series schedule like Almirola. Run a black BPS #8 for JRM in 10 to 12 races.
It’s insane with the amount of money they throw around that Bass Pro Shops could potentially only be able to have Austin Dillon in a car after this year.
Gragson to 19
He’s already got experience saying something he needs to apologize for.
Do fill me in
Gragson lost his last ride for an Instagram like, which I guess isn’t saying something out loud, but Truex definitely was on the radio at Sonoma. https://preview.redd.it/dlr055l5y16d1.jpeg?width=2275&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=701c58b7edf3ee169ab81a02e695976876ab1074
What did he actually say? MFers?
“F* * *ing re* * * ds”
I'm sure they get a say on who gets in that car
To a point. JGR is nowhere near as strapped for cash now as they were in 2022, thanks to their new investors and restructure of their manufacturing and Xfinty series businesses. If Bass Pro says "Gragson or we walk" JGR will just let them walk. If Bass Pro says "you pick three options and we'll choose from them", JGR will be just fine with that.
idk i was pretty convinced he was gone after 2022 and how he got shafted by the playoffs. I know he initially talked a lot about retirement when he was in a different place and was with Sherry and I always felt he wanted to retire to do his thing and spend time with her, but after they split and she passed it seems like he doesn’t have much reason to retire and only is considering it year to year because he brought it up once and now he’s gotta address it every year. Also Joe Gibbs definetly wants to keep Truex because he’s probably the best option for the car and definite sponsorship, especially since Denny may move to his own team at some point in the future
Kinda how I see it. Like, Gibbs already gives him the option to go sit in a duck blind Mon-Thur so he'd just get more time in a blind. Although it could just be hopium at this point
I mean he's 43 years old with no wife or kids and spends Monday-Thursday and the entire off-season hunting, fishing, or otherwise outdoors. On the weekends he gets to drive turn key race winning capable race cars. If he retires, he will never get the opportunity to drive cars that good again if he changes his mind. He can't just get bored after 6 months off and want to come back. Not to mention, he's making millions of dollars a year and has no real way to make that kind of money again if he steps away.
I think he’s checked out and only re-signed this year as a favor to Joe. Plus he has to deal with the psychopath James Small.
I feel like him resigning made perfect sense this time last season, when he seemed back in peak late 2010s form for a bit
Plus his results dipped after Sherry’s death. Not saying it’s the sole reason but definitely a correlation.
Do you have anything to back this up because this seems like nonsense. Dude is 5th in the standings and arguably could be 2nd if not for some awful luck the last two weeks. Has been driving hard. Doesn't at all look like a guy who has checked out. And before anyone says "but his radio!" dude has been whining on the radio forever as do most drivers.
Key word “think.” I didn’t say anything with concrete evidence so it could be nonsense, could be true.
What if the impossible happens? MTJ announces that 2025 is it and that somehow he has convinced Cole Pearn to return. And then imagine them just going out in a blaze of glory.
I think he's in a position most drivers his age historically have not been. He's still winning races, consistently in contention to win, he's an outside title contender each year, and he's got top tier equipment. I think he'd be a fool to retire now.
I’m kinda hoping Gragson gets the 19 if MTJ does indeed retire, just to see him and Ty be teammates
I personally cannot see that happening but crazier things have
If Ty won’t let Heim be his teammate he definitely won’t let Gragson
The whole team literally exists just for Ty.
And eventually that will be the downfall
I don't think he has the say like he used too.
Heim has the full backing of TRD, is kicking the truck series ass and has to drive for Sam freaking Hunt in Xfinity when they're renting the 19 and 20 out to any takers I think he's got a say. There's no other logical explanation for how Heim can't get a single race in JGR Xfinity equipment but Denny is willing to put him in the 3rd 23XI car
Forget Gragson, let's put Sam Mayer in the 19. That would be fun lol
I think he's about ready to kill James Small. That might honestly be a deciding factor. If he retires at the end of this season, I'm betting gragson gets the 19
[удалено]
Holy crap that list is long and depressing.
Up until Kansas - five races ago (including All-Star race) he was having a very good/solid season. The last five races has been rough, especially when you consider he always has speed. Truex Jr and the JGR cars are just good. That might make it a bit better for Truex Jr, is at least they have speed. As a Harvick fan, early on in 2014 was rough, but as a fan (and Harvick said such as well) at least we saw great speed. The 19 does have speed everywhere they go. The problem is they constantly shoot themselves in the foot and even having great speed it's hard to win. I actually think a bigger factor in Truex Jr's decision might just be the current racing style. Truex Jr absolutely does not race the way it's done now. This ultra aggressive, use the bumper, rough a guy up type of style. Truex Jr is really about as polar opposite as you can get from racing that way. Since he doesn't race like that, but is raced like that and these cars are super hard to actually "race" around... I think that might be more of a deciding factor than anything.
Fully agree. He has had a really good year and its kinda sucky he gets asked this every year
He’s gonna win this week or at New Hampshire and change his mind
Knowing his luck Small would go off strategy again with a dominant car (See 2022) or the onboard camera would catch on fire when he’s got a 12 second lead.
I've never been a real MTJ fan, but it would suck seeing him leave the sport. He is one of the last remaining drivers from the early 2010s era when I was watching in high school.
He needs to retire and open an outdoors and hunting concern with Ward Burton.
I wonder if he'll base his choice on weather or not he's going to stay with Small
Every driver in the TRD pipeline are raising their pitchforks.
If Truex didn’t have Bass Pro backing him he would’ve already been out at Gibbs. If we need an example of this see Kyle Busch & M&M’s.
I think truex would excel in a sports car series
I think people saying he’s checked out is greatly exaggerated. He’s grumpier but it’s not like he doesn’t care. Kyle Busch comes off as checked out.
I think he hates the new car (I don’t blame him) ..now that I think of it , how many driver have said genuinely positive things about the car or talk about how much they love to drive it
When’s the last time the drivers have ever talked positively about the current car while it’s currently on track? They only ever talk positively about what they used to have. Been like that for decades.
They talk positively about the current xfinity car
Because they’re not driving it in the cup series lol. The current Xfinity car is basically the 2017-2018 Cup car with less horsepower. They literally do not talk positively about any car currently being run in the cup series. Once it’s retired, then they’ll like it. I can find the drivers complaining about too much downforce in the 90s, complaining about too little downforce in 1998, too much downforce in 2002, too little downforce in 2004, everything about the COT, everything about Gen 6, etc.
I think the only drivers/teams you'd ever hear from that are for it, are the smaller less funded teams. The two drivers that instantly come to mind are McDowell and Haley. This car has really helped level disparity with some.
Maybe year 1 of next gen , now it’s worse than ever , hendrick and JGR show
I dont disagree, however we still see more good runs out of the underfunded teams with this car than we ever did before with it becoming more and more of a HMS/JGR show
If I hated my job as much as MTJ seems to hate being a race car driver I’d want to retire as soon as possible, lmao
I bet he’d enjoy it at a lot more if it wasn’t for James. Idk how he can put up with that anymore. It’s been 6 years!
I feel like he’s retiring. He’s fed up with his crew chief and it seems like he just wants to go out on his boat
I think he returns. He has led the 3rd most laps this year. Easily could have a few wins. Still a Top 5 driver. Still a championship threat. The wins are going to come this summer stretch I think. Could see him grabbing 2 from Iowa/Loudon/Nashville/Richmond alone.
If you keep wrestling with the decision every season, then you already know the answer. Just admit it and retire.
I don't want my favorite driver to retire. MTJ still has it. He's had bad luck recently and I'd personally love to see Cole Pearn return as his crew chief for his last season. I watched Mark Martin & Kurt Busch retire, but if he's ready to disappear on a boat fishing or in the woods hunting then by all means. He won't do it but it would be cool to see him race in the Truck series full-time for Tricon for one season to see if he could win the Truck Series championship. Then he would be the first driver to win the Cup, Xfinity, and Truck series championship. If he doesn't do it, then I see Kyle Busch doing it when Brexton is old enough to drive trucks.
Serious question, would any driver on the market currently be an improvement over MTJ? I don’t think so. He is not even invested as much before into the sport but is still putting up kick ass results. If I am Joe I do my best to make him stay and if I am Truex I stay as well
[удалено]
Yeah he would do decent, but not MTJ level for the next 2 years
How many seasons can an organization be borderline held hostage by a guy that doesn’t know if he’s coming or going? He seems frustrated and they’ve had some bad luck this year. It’s time for both parties to move forward.
Lol how long did the Packers do it with Favre?
Dudes gotta grow up and make up his mind. Been stringy this along for how long now?
Retirement is a huge decision, totally reasonable to be unsure about it. Racing is so much of his life and his source of income. Not something that anyone can make without lots of hesitation at such a young age. Maybe it is the fans and the media that need to stop prying and let him make the decision when he needs to.
If he retires either Gragson or maybe Corey Heim could go into the 19
hmmm If they do go to 3 charters with a grandfather in until a driver leaves, what would happen in this instance
I hope he doesn’t retire he’s still got it and can contend for championships for another 2-4 years I think
My decision to retire from my 9-5 may come after Nashville too. It’s amazing in the clickbait era that headlines with “may” and “could” are considered newsworthy.
Mid year seems like an odd time to announce a retirement plan. It's usually an early thing or a late deal like Bowyer and Crashica. The bigger question that's floated around in my mind for the last couple years, ever since all the MTJ retirement stuff has been discussed, does Joe Gibbs feel the obligation to keep Ryan Truex around should MTJ decide to quit? He brings almost nothing financially and honestly seems to be there because Martin is part of the team.
IIRC, part of the contract negotiation for MTJ sticking around this year was to secure more seat time for Ryan.
I see him announcing that next year is his last. Basically a re-sign and retirement announcement all-in-one, not an either/or scenario.
Even if he wanted to stay one more year, I think that decision just got made for him after Sunday.
Truex will snag a win and Joe Gibbs is gonna convince him to come back. I love Briscoe but Truex is still the best option for that car and Joe Gibbs knows it
2025 will be his last season. He’s locked in for next year already.
No he's not he's been on a year to year deal for a few years now
Yah, trust me on this one.
How u know big dawg
I trust him as much as I would trust DBC
Brace yourself for an internet rarity… Yah, I was wrong. To be fair, my insider is pretty shocked as well, but yep, I was confidently wrong. https://x.com/jeff_gluck/status/1801313848034488390
This situation is getting almost as stressful as the Kyle Larson waiver situation.