Martin Truex Jr. is expected to announce this weekend that he will retire at the end of the NASCAR Cup season, The Athletic and Fox Sports reported Thursday.
Truex is scheduled to meet the media at 4 p.m. ET Friday at Iowa Speedway.
The 2017 Cup champion has weighed if to stay or retire each of the past few years but reports indicate he has decided to call it a career after this year. Truex, who turns 44 on June 29, has 34 career Cup wins, 13 Xfinity victories and one win in the Truck Series. He also won two Xfinity championships.
His announcement would create an opening at Joe Gibbs Racing for the No. 19 team. Several drivers would be available, including any from the Toyota’s program and all four Stewart-Haas Racing drivers, who are looking for a ride with SHR ceasing operations after this season. Chase Briscoe has been mentioned in reports as a top candidate to take over Truex’s seat.
Earlier this week, Briscoe said: “I definitely think that this is one of the more unique and interesting silly seasons in the fact there are so many drivers. We’ve never really been in that situation where there are this many drivers that are already in the Cup Series looking for a job, and then you also have the normal Xfinity and Truck guys trying to move up, too. I’m just trying to make sure that I’m not left out.”
Truex rose to prominence later in his Cup career. He had only two wins in his first nine full seasons in the series.
Things changed starting in 2016 with Furniture Row Racing. He won 23 races from 2016-19, won a Cup title and finished second in the points twice.
Furniture Row Racing shut down after the 2018 season. Truex has been with Joe Gibbs Racing since.
Truex had three victories since 2022. He is winless this year but is fifth in the points entering Sunday’s inaugural Cup race at Iowa Speedway. He was set to finish second last weekend at Sonoma before running out of fuel on the final lap and finishing 27th.