“I don’t even know why I’m here,” a mirthful Martin Truex Jr quipped at a news conference in June. Yet as it turned out, he perfectly knew why – it was time to wrap up things. After leading 19 years on the NASCAR Cup Series grid and experiencing the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, Truex had drained his stock of stories. So one more successful story seemed extra, as Dale Earnhardt Jr believes.

The No. 19 Toyota driver saw his winning chances crash out early at Darlington. That threw his playoff hopes in jeopardy, setting off ripples of doubt in the Cup garage. Although Truex prevailed on a razor-sharp margin in the end, Dale Jr believes race winner Chase Briscoe is already prepared to replace him.

Dale Earnhardt Jr thinks nature is distracting Truex

Walking on long, sandy beaches, hiking on mountain trails, and fishing at scenic ponds – paints the perfect retirement picture, right? That picture may have been swirling inside Martin Truex Jr’s head at the Southern 500 race, as Dale Earnhardt Jr believes. On lap 3, the 2017 Cup champion slid up the asphalt in Turn 1 into the left-rear tire of William Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet.

Then to avoid crashing, he swerved left but eventually took himself and Ryan Blaney out as both slammed into the SAFER barrier. In a Dale Jr Download episode, Dale Earnhardt Jr thought about the possible thoughts in Truex’s head. “There’s a pond about 10 miles away, this moon is perfect…This is a great night for going.” 

Truex had entered Darlington with a 58-point cushion, and the lap 3 wreck made everybody doubt his playoff chances. Yet he made it, as Dale Jr observed. “He’s got a spot in the playoffs, he’s got a spot that he kind of needed to protect. So when he crashed out, there was a little conversation of ‘oh well’ moment where they were like he might not make it. But he easily made it.”

Chase Briscoe eventually won the Southern 500 race, fending off a hard-charging Kyle Busch. He is also booked to replace Martin Truex Jr’s No. 19 spot at Joe Gibbs Racing. So the replacement may be going smoothly, given the stark difference between the two drivers’ performance in Darlington. As Briscoe won and Truex nursed his wounds from a wreck, the former looked ready to replace the latter already.

Despite Truex’s playoff entry, Dale Earnhardt Jr still believes that he may be tired. After announcing his retirement in June, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver may be itching to finally hang up his firesuit. “Is that a little glimpse into (the fact that) Truex is already on holiday? …He is so ready for this next chapter…He is a little tired, a little ground down – not from this season but from the 20 years of doing this, right? And then there is this next thing that’s so awesome, he can’t wait for it to get here. It is probably one of the hardest things he’ll ever do…to stay totally plugged in, to finish this year with incredible dedication and focus.”

Truex’s loss of focus almost cost him a playoff spot and also hurt Ryan Blaney’s Darlington run. Yet the latter accepted the JGR driver’s apology post-race.

Truex’s mid-race dreams did not hurt much

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Well, if Dale Earnhardt Jr’s supposition is true, then Martin Truex Jr was at risk. The danger was a double-edged sword – he could have lost his playoff spot and also incurred the wrath of Ryan Blaney. Thankfully, none of those occurred. At the end of stage 2, Truex mathematically locked himself into the NASCAR playoffs.

During the wreck, radio transmissions from the No. 12 Ford indicated that Blaney was hurt with a twisted arm – but luckily he quelled that possibility post-race. Martin Truex Jr sincerely apologized: “It’s all my fault. I hate it for Blaney and apologize to his guys. Yeah, it caught me by surprise, and it’s just a stupid mistake — inexcusable.” And fortunately, Blaney also did not blame him, explaining what happened during the wreck.

“He was so sideways, I thought he was just going to spin to the left. So I kind of gassed up to get outside and around him, and like right as I got to him, his car hooked up and went right, just tore both of us up. So that’s one of those unfortunate timing things. I mean, no one did anything wrong. It was just one of those things where you kind of guess wrong. I hate it happened on Lap 3. I mean, gosh, we didn’t even get to race. Early day, and I hope next week goes better.”

Evidently, retirement plans are intruding upon Truex’s thoughts a little too soon. Hopefully, Dale Earnhardt Jr’s suspicions will not come true and Truex will end 2024 on a high note.