Martin Truex Jr. could have had more success in the NASCAR Cup Series had his crew chief, Cole Pearn, stayed with him for a couple more years. The duo started working with each other in 2015 after Pearn was promoted to the role of crew chief by an engineer. They did have a successful run that included the 2017 championship run. But it all came to an end as Pearn decided to call it quits from his role after the 2019 season.

Truex Jr. was on his peak run at the time and had jumped to Joe Gibbs Racing, trying to contest for another championship. As in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons, they ended with a runner-up finish in the championship standings. The JGR driver could’ve been mad for leaving when he was ready to mount a championship run. But, rather, he respected his decision and allowed him to embark on his new journey.

Martin Truex Jr. was “okay” at Cole Pearn’s exit; here’s why

Interestingly, Truex was the only driver that Pearn worked with as a crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series. During their run together in 179 races, the duo bagged 24 victories and were genuine title contenders almost every season. 2019 was the first season that Pearn had to relocate with his driver to a new team, and this decision did weigh upon his call to take a step away from being involved with NASCAR racing.

Pearn wanted to spend more time with his family rather than being on the racetrack, and while this decision came as a shock to Martin Truex Jr., he respected his call. Sharing the details of how he reacted to an abrupt end to his NASCAR career, MTJ said, “It was tough for me to kinda understand for a minute. Never once questioned him or tried to talk him out of it. Or say, you know oh come on, just do another year. I knew that’s what he wanted to do; you know, it’s his life, it’s his decision, and I was okay with that.”

Moreover, Pearn’s call came as a huge surprise because they were running well in 2019, bagging seven wins but coming just short in the championship run. “I think he knew before the championship race or maybe sometime during the playoff run that he was probably gonna not do it next year. Nobody knew but him. I remember when he told me, I was really surprised because I didn’t see it coming or feel it coming. He was all in 110% until he wasn’t. So I can appreciate that.” Truex Jr. added.

Following in his former crew chief’s footsteps, the JGR driver also announced that he would retire from NASCAR Cup Series racing at the end of 2024. However, he did leave the door open for running some races, and this decision caught his friend Dale Jr. by surprise.

The Daytona 500 win still eludes him

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When Truex Jr. announced his retirement from NASCAR racing, Dale Jr was sure he would be out in the wilderness enjoying his free time fishing, away from the hustle and bustle of racing. However, it turns out MTJ wasn’t bluffing during his retirement announcement when he said he would run a couple of races. Heck, he is now also open to running in the Truck Series.

“I’m not exactly sure yet, but I’ll probably run the Daytona 500. Not a done deal yet, but I feel it shouldn’t be too hard to finish that up. I’ll definitely run a few Xfinity Series races; I don’t know if that’s two or five or six. Maybe even a few truck races here and there if I could put something together.” He said this in an interview with Dale Jr.

Well, it is indeed hard to keep a race car driver away from the race track. That is also true in the case of Martin Truex Jr. who is still looking for that Daytona 500 win.