Martin Truex Jr. responds to retirement question as Joe Gibbs seeks decision

Entering the second half of the 2024 NASCAR season, doubts surrounding Martin Truex Jr.'s future continue to hover, as he is yet to confirm his plans for the 2025 season.

The 43-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been contemplating retirement for the past couple of seasons. He previously hinted about retirement in 2022 and has been extending his contract yearly, signalling that he is not committed to competing in the long term.

With NASCAR entering the second half of the season, Fox Sports reporter Bob Pockrass asked Martin Truex Jr. if he was close to deciding for 2025. Pockrass also queried if team owner Joe Gibbs was putting any pressure to know his availability for the upcoming season.

Truex Jr. continued to kick the can down the road, as he didn't reveal any details surrounding his decision for the upcoming season. He suggested that every week he was getting closer to making an announcement.

"Every week Bob, I'm closer every week. How's that, every week I get closer," Truex Jr. said in the press conference at Sonoma Raceway [at 1:00].

Earlier in the weekend, the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver acknowledged that he needed to make an early decision to avoid upsetting the stakeholders involved in operating the team.

"I don’t know yet. We’ll see. It’s never enough time in this sport because you need to start planning for next year like now. It’s a tough situation to be in where I’m at right now, trying to figure out six, or eight months ahead of time. But it is what it is. There’s a lot of people that have to make plans and you don’t want to mess them up. You gotta be looking out for everybody else in these situations," he told veteran reporter Claire B. Lang.

In previous years, Martin Truex Jr. announced his contract extension in July 2022, and more recently in August 2023.

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Martin Truex Jr. aiming for season's first win at Sonoma

NASCAR returns to Sonoma Raceway, one of Martin Truex Jr's favorite tracks. The #19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won four races at the track and is the defending winner of the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

The veteran JGR driver is yet to win a Cup Series race this season, despite putting together solid performances every week. Heading to his favorite track this weekend, he hopes for a turnaround.

"We’ve been in contention for most races. Had a couple slip away, a couple of heartbreakers so hopefully we can turn that around, get a little luck on our side, and keep doing what we’re doing and it will all come together," he told the media [at 0:42].

After 15 rounds in the season, Martin Truex Jr. sits fourth in the regular season standings, 44 points adrift of the leader.