“This Is Where It Gets Hard”- Martin Truex Jr Poised to Walk Carl Edwards’ Infamous Houdini Act, Claims Insider

After Kevin Harvick bid adieu to the NASCAR Cup Series last year, another Cup champion is packing his bags. After 18 years of stellar racing and two years of deliberation, Martin Truex Jr announced his plans to exit for good. This drew a slew of tributes from his compatriots, as Truex is immensely respected in the Cup garage.

Teammate and track rival Denny Hamlin claimed a car would always be ready for Truex if he ever gets bored. However, given the history of a certain veteran NASCAR driver, Martin Truex Jr may opt to completely cut ties with racing.

Will Martin Truex Jr disappear?

Carl Edwards led a glittering race career, raking in 72 wins across NASCAR’s three tiers, including 28 Cup trophies. From the mid-2000s onwards, he was one of the sport’s most successful drivers. But at the peak of his career in 2016, when he won three races, the former Joe Gibbs Racing driver bid adieu. Having maintained a low profile as a habit, Edwards literally disappeared from NASCAR’s radar. He emerged only recently when the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2025 announced his name.

Now another JGR driver is set to hang up his helmet. And ‘Door Bumper Clear’ hosts are afraid that Martin Truex Jr would also pull a Houdini act like Edwards. Brett Griffin was visibly worried, as he said, “This is where it gets hard…You know guys like him are just going to disappear. You know what I mean? He’s going to be a guy that retires and you might not ever see him.”

Griffin’s co-hosts threw around a few suggestions and already established reliefs. As Denny Hamlin strongly gave his word to welcome Truex anytime he felt like it. “Any time that Martin gets bored and wants to run Cup, we would have a seat for him for sure.” Plus Martin Truex Jr himself had mentioned that he may fiddle around in an Xfinity car.

But Griffin still had his doubts. “If there’s a way for him to come back and race, I can see that happening. Otherwise, it’s no different than Ricky Rudd or Elliott Sadler or any of the rest of them. When they quit racing, you never see them again.”

Yet, Martin Truex Jr may take a different trajectory. When he officially announced his retirement at Iowa, he mentioned that he wasn’t disappearing and that he’d still remain involved in the sport. There were hints about a possible ambassadorial role in Joe Gibbs’ fold. This sharply contrasts Carl Edwards’ philosophy when he opted to retire.

Edwards yearned for a life outside the glamor

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When Carl Edwards delivered his shocker news at the end of 2016, some reasons were cited for his early exit. He had some narrow shaves with victory, like in 2011 when he lost the Cup championship to Tony Stewart on a tiebreaker. In 2016, he came within one ill-timed caution flag of winning the title. Edwards crashed out in a fight with Joey Logano, and Jimmie Johnson grabbed the glory. However, his reasoning was far beyond these disappointments.

Carl Edwards wanted to spend more time with his family. Sharing a home with Dr. Kate Edwards and two lovely children, he believed that his time outside racing was equally important. “When I stepped away from the sport, this is very hard for me to do. Okay? I’ve learned this, this is how life works in my world. There are a lot of shiny things out there that compete for attention. What I realized, though, there are very few things… there are certain things that if you don’t show up, nobody else is going to do.”

This beautiful philosophy may be enough for diehard NASCAR fans to hail Carl Edwards once again. Yet Martin Truex Jr may choose to be more involved with racing, unlike his JGR predecessor.