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Thus ends the full-time NASCAR career of Martin Truex Jr

There will be a lot of hunting and some sporadic racing for the 2017 Cup Series champion

NASCAR: NASCAR Cup Series Championship
Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Martin Truex Jr. is at peace, not second guessing his retirement, and ready for whatever comes after his full-time retirement from NASCAR on Sunday night at Phoenix.

The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion exited this stage of his career in much of the same ways that he entered it – publicly stoic and driving a throwback Bass Pro Shops paint scheme that mirrored his first from the 2004 season.

He started from the pole, ending his career with back-to-back races leading the field to green, and remained there for the first nine laps. It was downhill from there as Truex and crew chief James Small struggled to get a handle on their No. 19 and relatively languished to a 17th place finish.

“I wanted it to go better than that,” Truex said. “We were pretty good early and then lost track position and then the track just continued to rubber up and get hotter. At least that’s what I felt like it was doing. I kept losing the grip, losing more balance [and] losing track position. It just magnifies with this thing. We got caught by the caution there and had to stay out on old tires and get the wave around and we couldn’t even race to try to go forward. It was just not a good day. Not a good day to end on. I’m proud of the effort of my team. At least we got to lead a few laps at the beginning.”

On the other hand, Sunday really wasn’t about the results, but instead celebrating a career that lasted over a quarter of a century and two decades spent at the highest level.

Once the race was over, Truex climbed out of the car and was greeted by teammate Denny Hamlin and longtime competitor Jeff Gordon. Michael Jordan, who co-owns 23XI Racing with Hamlin, also stopped by to offer words of congratulations.

Prior to the race, during the drivers meeting, NASCAR played a video recap of his career that led directly into a standing ovation from the entire room full of his peers, industry insiders and series officials.

“It means a lot to have the respect of guys like that and what they mean to the sport,” Truex said. “Absolute legends, right? It makes me feel good that I’ve earned that respect over the years, and it means a lot. From here forward, I’m just going to go have some fun and do a little bit of racing here and there just for fun. Hopefully, it will be less stressful than days like today.”

Truex is expected to compete in the season opening Daytona 500 next season in a car fielded by either 23XI Racing or Joe Gibbs Racing and hopes to dabble in a handful of Xfinity Series races for the latter as well.

But nothing too strenuous.

Truex wants to spend most of his days on a yacht that he purchased last summer anticipating the decision that he made this summer that this would be his final season.

Truex ended this campaign winless but did secure a top-10 championship finish for the seventh time in 19 full-time seasons. In addition to his 2017 Cup Series championship, Truex won back-to-back Busch Grand National (now Xfinity) championships in 2003 and 2004.

He won 34 times at the highest level, adding 13 in Xfinity and one in the Craftsman Truck Series as well.

So what is immediately next?

“I’m going hunting all this week, all next week, and spend some time with friends and family leading up to the banquet,” Truex said. “Just ready to enjoy some time off.”

And no second thoughts?

“No second thoughts. I’m happy.”

Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.

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