Martin Truex Jr. will no longer compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup after announcing his retirement in 2024. Now, the veteran JGR driver has a different personality altogether, and most of us thought he’d distance himself from racing. Fishing and hunting are something he enjoys the most apart from racing, and that would’ve been his plans after hanging up his boots.

Although Martin Truex Jr. has won the prestigious Bill France trophy, the Daytona 500 crown is something that has eluded all these years. And it certainly has motivated him to return to a part-time schedule in the 2025 season. “Hopefully a couple of Xfinity races and a Daytona 500. We’ll see,” he teased about his return to racing next year. Well, he won’t have to look far, as his teammate Denny Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI Racing, has already offered him a ride for next year.

“Any time that Martin gets bored and wants to run Cup, we would have a seat for him for sure,” Hamlin stated. While there are options for Martin Truex Jr. to continue to race in the Cup Series, it won’t necessarily be a success, according to industry veteran Ken Schrader.

Ken Schrader doesn’t want Martin Truex Jr. to follow in Jimmie Johnson’s footsteps

The 7-time Cup Series winner called it quits from full-time NASCAR racing in 2020 and then opted to run a couple of seasons in the IndyCar. 2022 was the last year where he entered the season to run a full schedule of races, but he wanted to mark a comeback at NASCAR level with a select few races. In the role of an owner-driver at Legacy Motor Club, Johnson went on to add races for the 2024 season, and let’s just say it wasn’t a dream comeback.

Johnson struggled to adapt to the new race car and the shift to the Toyota camp with LMC this year. He looked out of sorts and ended up crashing on multiple occasions. So, with the racing landscape changing drastically every year, Martin Truex Jr. could run into similar issues if he plans a lengthy partial run for 2025. At least, this is what Ken Schrader thought about Truex Jr. returning to race at the Cup level.

“100% I agree with Kevin—several big differences. Jimmie left for a couple of years and went IndyCar racing. He was out of the Cup car. All of the cars changed, then he came back to a different team. Martin Truex can go to Daytona and be fine. He doesn’t need to take 10 weeks off race or don’t.” Schrader said this on Dirty Mo Media. Agreeing with Schrader, co-host Kenny Wallace added, “Highest form of Motorsports you’re either in or out.”

The one thing working in favor of Truex Jr. is that he’s already used to driving the Next-Gen car. This is the key difference between Johnson and MTJ. By the time Johnson left the sport, NASCAR ran the old Gen-6 cars. By the time he came back, the Next-Gen cars had already come into the picture and they were vastly different. Since NASCAR has no plans to move away from these Next-Gen cars, Martin Truex Jr. does have the option to return.

However, MTJ’s departure from full-time racing is indeed a loss for NASCAR as a sport. A typical NASCAR driver wouldn’t finch putting the bumper onto their rivals, but Truex was a cut out a little different. There’s a reason he’s called one of the cleanest drivers to have graced the sport, and this quality has earned him the respect of the entire Cup garage.

NASCAR needs more drivers like Martin Truex Jr.

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Truex Jr. has probably seen it all throughout his career racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Multiple team changes, loss of sponsors, and uncertainty over his future in the sport. But despite the odds, he continued to strive for success, and he didn’t believe in the philosophy of getting his objectives by hook or by crook. This is the sort of mentality a lot of young drivers are attracted to. But all the hard work, perseverance, and patience by MTJ paid off in 2017 when he clinched his maiden Cup Series title with a single-car team, Furniture Row Racing.

This was indeed a defining moment of NASCAR racing from the last decade and something that will always be remembered. Adding to this milestone, the former JGR driver has 35 race wins in almost 700 Cup starts. But apart from his success on the racetrack, Truex values the respect he’s earned from his fellow drivers, and this is something he will cherish for a long time.

“I feel like I’ve earned, you know, the respect of a lot of people around here, and that means a lot. I mean, it’s probably worth more than everything, more than wins.” And talk about his return to racing, he’s kept that door open. After all, he wouldn’t mind getting a shot or two to win the Dayton 500 title. “So it’ll be fun to come back and see everyone and stick around. And come have some fun still,” he added.

Not sure if Martin Truex Jr. will race a couple or multiple races next year, but his fans certainly wouldn’t mind the sight of him racing for fun. After all that he’s given to the sport, he should be able to enjoy racing without the pressure of delivering results.