“You don’t have a life. You’re married to racing”: Martin Truex Jr. weighs in on his retirement decision

After over two decades since breaking into the NASCAR scene, Martin Truex Jr. has announced his retirement from full-time Cup Series racing as the season wraps up. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has teased about parting ways from the high-octane sport in the past but the conclusivity was present this time.

The 18th Cup Series dash is scheduled to flag off on Sunday at the Iowa Speedway and the teams and their personnel have laid their respective bases on the pitlane. Martin Truex Jr. will mark his 674th Cup Series start at the 7/8-mile oval and ahead of his debacle, the #19 Toyota driver announced his retirement from full-time NASCAR stint.

"I've put more than half of my life into this and I've gotten a lot out of it so I'm proud of that," Truex Jr. said via Speedsport.

He continued rubbishing the notion of a performance-related retirement decision:

"We've had disappointments this year, for sure. But it's not enough to make you stop doing what you want to do. Totally not related to any performance in any way, shape or form."

"You don't have a life. You're married to racing, that's all you do. Monday until Sunday, that's all you do. It's just going to be interesting to just live kind of a normal life for a while and see what's it like. It's been- I've never done that," the 2017 Cup Series champ added.

Martin Truex Jr. stepped foot into NASCAR as an Xfinity Series driver in 2000 and kicked off his debut run at the 2001 Drydene 200 at the Dover Motor Speedway. During his 11-year run in the Xfinity, the New Jersey native bagged two consecutive championships in 2004 and 2005, taking 13 wins and 62 top-10s.

After venturing into the full-time Cup Series in 2006, the veteran driver has amassed the 2017 Cup Series title, with 34 wins and 287 top-10s.

"I've never had a what the f*ck moment"- Denny Hamlin praises Martin Truex Jr.'s on-track demeanor

Denny Hamlin has been with Joe Gibbs Racing since the beginning of his NASCAR career while Martin Truex Jr. entered the North Carolina-based outfit in 2019. The duo are running their sixth season together and naturally know well about each other's driving style.

The #11 Toyota driver is renowned in stock car racing as a fierce, unapologetic driver who never shies from retaliation. Moreover, Hamlin is infamous for wrecking out his rivals to pave the way for his glory. On the contrary, Truex Jr. has always been a calm and composed driver and his racing style doesn't get called out by the rivals and fans alike.

Denny Hamlin outlined he never got a chance to vent frustration at his retiring teammate, courtesy of the latter's fair-play approach on the asphalt.

"I've never had what the f*ck Martin moment. Like never. I'm sure he's said that about me in his head because of the things that I've done as a teammate, but I've never had that moment. I don't think that anyone has as a teammate to him or anything," Hamlin said via Frontstretch on X (2.24).

The most recent example when Martin Truex Jr. would've had a "what the f*ck" moment with Denny Hamlin could be traced back to the Richmond race, where the latter exited the pits as the leader and jumpstarted his way to victory, while the former dropped from 1st to a fourth-place finish.