After four weeks, avid outdoorsman Martin Truex Jr will have all the downtime to pursue his other hobbies. Whether it be salt-water fishing on a Tracker boat somewhere along the Jersey shore or hunting bucks with his friends in the Northeastern wilderness, very few can disagree that Truex will retire having paid all his dues (in full) to stock car racing. Hence, he probably deserves the respite.

However, this season has been somewhat of an outlier for the New Jersey native. Running winless in 2024, the odds have often been against Truex in his farewell year. And his most recent outing in Sin City raised more than a few eyebrows. The three-wide tussle with Chase Elliot & Tyler Reddick on Lap 90, which flipped the latter’s car, has many blaming the veteran driver for initiating the all-important contact. But the grandstand’s frustrations spilled over onto Instagram when Joe Gibbs Racing posted an unlikely video of Truex enjoying himself a mobile game.

A rare mistake? Martin Truex Jr. caught in controversial Vegas wreck

The 2017 championship, an ESPY award for Best Driver the following year, and a spot on NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers list—you better believe the 44-year-old has seen it, done it, and won it all in NASCAR. But Truex was never one to hog the limelight or even speak about his accomplishments like that. From the outside, most diehards know MTJ as a quiet and collected driver who rarely lets his emotions fly, unlike some of his younger peers. Some fans would even tell you that Joe Gibbs Racing’s #19 wheelman is one of the cleanest racers currently in the sport.

So, when a specific segment of the NASCAR community directed their anger at Martin Truex Jr. for causing Tyler Reddick‘s car to flip during Sunday’s race, it was an unusual occurrence, at the very least. Halfway through the South Point 400, the #45 got tangled in a scary-looking wreck which sent Reddick flipping through the infield grass only minutes after winning Stage 1. At the moment, it seemed like the 23XI driver tried to thread the needle between Chase Elliott’s car and the outside wall, only to lose control of his car because of the tight confines of the LVMS frontstretch.

But on a closer look, Truex’s #19 slid up the racetrack and got into Elliott’s #9 Hendrick Chevy as soon as Reddick attempted to pass on the outside, causing the terrifying caution. Neither Tyler Reddick nor Chase Elliott openly blamed Truex for the contact, but with their races ending early, Truex rebounded from the incident to finish P6. As for his clarifications post-race, he said, “I was on the bottom, two wide. The spotter said to leave a lane so, we were trying to push together when the #9 lifted all of a sudden. I’m not really sure what happened. I didn’t know we were three wide until it was too late, but I still felt like there was plenty of room, and the #9, I think, jumped out of the gas. Not really sure what happened…”

Regardless, MTJ received flak from the wider NASCAR audiences for hampering the Round of 8 advances of two drivers gunning for the championship. Reddick and Elliott finished their races in P35 and P33, respectively, and now find themselves below the elimination cutline. However, a day after the race, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Instagram account shared a video. In the foretelling video, Truex was playing a mobile game where he attempted to dock a boat on a virtual pier. After a few tries, the real-life angling enthusiast finally got his boat to dock just right in the simulation.

That’s quite ironic, considering Truex grew up fishing for fun on the shores of New Jersey. His father, Martin Truex Sr was a former Busch North Series racer and has co-owned a commercial fishing company called Sea Watch International since the early ’80s. For that fact, if NASCAR ever presented a Greatest Fisherman award, it would probably go to his son. Back in 2019, Truex Jr revealed his biggest catch ever—a 570 lb bluefin tuna.

However, a few NASCAR fans did not appreciate the irony of Martin Truex Jr.’s wholesome moment, especially after his controversial accident in Las Vegas the day before.

Fans rain backlash on Joe Gibbs Racing’s ‘fishy’ video

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And it wasn’t just the grandstands; even Martin’s younger brother, Ryan Truex, commented on the post with a hilarious observation. “He really brought the energy to this one,” wrote the 32-year-old Xfinity racer who seems to be in high sports after winning two races this season for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Xfinity program on a part-time schedule. 

But most fan sentiments aimed their frustrations at his retiring elder brother. Like this fan who replied, “That’s what he needs to do instead of wrecking 3 playoff drivers.” The third Playoff driver in question would be Ryan Blaney, who got caught up in the melee after Brad Keselowski’s #6 car was sent on a crash course toward the Team Penske #12 during that big wreck on Lap 90. Keselowski’s #6 RFK Ford got tagged by Reddick’s car preparing for that terrifying flip. Those three Playoff drivers and Keselowski all ended their races on a DNF.

Others expressed themselves with things like, “Parks a boat like he exits Turn 4 at Vegas,” while one fan quite distastefully wrote, “Retirement practice 👏” four weeks before Truex’s last full-time Cup Series race ever.

Another diehard was just curious about what game Truex was playing. “Okay but what game is this?” – they asked. Nevertheless, one comment stood out, outlining the amount of respect he’s attained in his glorious Cup Series career. But it also provided everyone with a saddening perspective for the future. It read, “Bro really practicing for when he retires to live on an island and fish.” 

Now, let’s not forget Truex could be running a part-time schedule post-retirement. Only a few weeks ago, he teased the possibility of a Daytona 500 return in 2025 with his JGR teammate, Denny Hamlin’s co-owned organization, 23XI Racing. But for now, 23XI Racing has no charters for 2025 after NASCAR denied the preliminary injunction in their anti-trust Lawsuit against the sport which would allow them to field cars under the existing charter agreement next year.

Until 23XI Racing can iron out those details in the courtroom, a return for Truex does not seem likely. In his own words to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports before Las Vegas, “I don’t own a car, so it’s gonna be depending on a lot of people to figure out.” So, here’s to hoping the people Truex was talking about figure it out because NASCAR will surely be incomplete without the calming presence of Martin Truex Jr.