Martin Truex Jr. announces his retirement from full-time racing in NASCAR’s Cup Series

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Martin Truex Jr. announced Friday that he will retire from full-time racing at the end of the season, saying it is time to live on his own schedule after 19 years in NASCAR’s Cup Series.

“I mean, it’s as simple as not having a crazy schedule where, you know, you spend 40 weekends at a track,” Truex said at Iowa Speedway, where he will start his 674th Cup Sunday. “Everyone in my family who has ever gotten married has missed their wedding. You know what I mean? …You have no life. You’re married to racing, that’s all you do. Monday through Sunday, that’s all you do.

Questions about possible retirement have followed Truex for the past two years. The news broke Thursday — “I don’t even know why I’m here,” Truex joked as he opened his news conference — but Truex said he made the decision “a few weeks ago.”

“I’ve been thinking about this for most of the season,” Truex said. “I was leaning in that direction, but I wasn’t totally sure. So I took the time to think about all of this. It’s a big decision. This doesn’t just affect me, it affects a lot of people.

Truex said it was hard to tell Joe Gibbs, the 83-year-old owner of Truex’s Joe Gibbs Racing team.

“Coach has been great,” Truex said of Gibbs. “He helped me achieve that. He always made a list of pros and cons and his list of pros was always longer than mine.

“I think last time I had nine pros and two cons,” Gibbs interjected.

Truex has won 34 Cup races, 32 since 2015. He had a career-high eight victories in 2017, when he captured the series championship.

Truex also won the 2004 and 2005 Xfinity Series championships, winning 13 races in that series.

“It’s been absolutely great working with him,” Gibbs said. “I think everyone knows Martin’s reputation: a real gentleman, a great competitor. And that’s obviously something that’s going to be a big problem for us, and a big loss.

“Martin is a very relaxed guy,” Brad Keselowski said. “I don’t know what the next chapter of his life will be – I don’t think he knows. But we will miss him.

Truex, who turns 44 on June 29, hasn’t won a Cup race since last July at New Hampshire, a span of 32 races. He has four top-five finishes and seven top-10 finishes in 16 races this season, and is fifth in the standings, 53 points behind leader Kyle Larson.

Truex said his decision had nothing to do with his performance.

“We’ve had some disappointments this year, for sure,” Truex said. “It’s not enough to stop you from doing what you want to do.”

Gibbs said he began looking for a replacement for Truex.

“We’re still working through all of that,” Gibbs said. “So we just want to focus on Martin at the moment, and all that will take place later.”

For now, Truex will do his best to finish strong in his final season.

“I guess it will be different knowing that I will be going to tracks for the last time in a Cup car,” Truex said. “I’m not sure what it’s going to be, but I’m going to try to enjoy it.”

Gibbs said Truex would stay with the team as an “ambassador,” and Truex said he hasn’t ruled out participating in an occasional race.

“He has Xfinity cars,” Truex said with a laugh as he nodded in Gibbs’ direction. “’Coach, I’m bored, I want to go racing. Let’s go.'”

Whatever Truex does, it will be on his own time.

“It’s going to be interesting to live a normal life for a while and see what that’s like,” Truex said. “I have never done that.”

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