"It's not fair to his team" - Kevin Harvick argues Martin Truex Jr's future uncertainty hurts JGR #19's progress

Former NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick feels that the uncertainty regarding Martin Truex Jr.'s contract is hurting the overall performance of Joe Gibbs Racing, a team that he believes is a contender for the championship. The #19 Toyota driver currently holds a contract until the end of the ongoing Cup Series season.

Truex Jr. has been racing for Joe Gibbs Racing since the 2019 season, two years after his Cup Series Championship win. In the initial years of his stint with JGR, he came close to winning on two more occasions, but from 2022 onwards, there has been a steep decline in his performances. He did not make it to the playoffs that season and was 11th last year.

While it has been thought that he might consider retiring after spending almost two decades racing in the Cup Series, he signed a contract extension last year. However, there is still no clarity on whether he will stay with the team after this season. Kevin Harvick feels that this uncertainty is hurting JGR. Speaking on the Harvick's Happy Hour podcast, he compared his retirement with that of Truex Jr., stating that he didn't want the "chaos."

"I didn't want the constant chaos because the scenario that I see with Martin Truex is not fair to his team. It's not fair to his team guys, it's not fair to his team to just continuously go through these scenarios of whether you're staying or whether you're going because you can't build anything. You can't build to get better, you can't build to do things that it takes to to win a championship," he said. (22:59)

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NASCAR spotter believes Truex Jr.'s retirement could help Noah Gragson

With Stewart-Haas Racing announcing their closure at the end of this season, Noah Gragson, who is competing in his second full-time Cup Series season, has no idea where his career is going. While it is unsure who he will race for in the next season, NASCAR spotter, Brett Griffin feels that Martin Truex Jr.'s retirement could help him.

Speaking via Dirty Mo Media, he stated that Truex's retirement could help Gragson at Richard Childress Racing. He said:

"There's a lot of rumors out there that Noah Gragson and Bass Pro Shops could even be going to RCR [Richard Childress Racing] and that could be an added charter and obviously Bass Pro Shops has ties to Martin [Truex Jr.]. So if Martin does retire, that probably helps Noah's scenario. If he doesn't retire, I think it probably hurts Noah's scenario." (1:01.35)

Martin Truex Jr.'s playoff qualification is under question as he has yet to win a race this season. His best finish came in Bristol, where he finished in second place. Apart from that, he has finished within the top five on three more occasions.