Kevin Harvick is happy that Martin Truex Jr. is retiring so that he can enjoy life off the track. On Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Harvick celebrated Truex who announced his retirement last week.
“Martin Truex Jr. has been a fixture in Cup Series for a number of years now,” Harvick said. “He’s been around this sport for a long time, has a tremendous amount of respect from the competitors in the garage. I know Martin probably would have rather just said I’m done after the last race and not have to deal with it, but I’m really happy that we get to celebrate what Martin has done.
“He’s a champion, he’s a great person and he’s probably going to do better with retirement than I do with it because he’s got a great fishing habit. He’s definitely put some time in over the last couple of years in making that better. I’m really happy that we have half the year to celebrate Martin and what he’s accomplished in our sport.”
Kevin Harvick shares more on Martin Truex Jr.
Harvick went on to talk about why Truex decided to call it a career now. “I was in that same boat every year. It was like ‘Should we do it? What’s the right timing'” Harvick said. “I think for Martin, there was just something. He said it has nothing to do with performance, but it’s been a pain in the butt for him this year as far as things that have happened, losing races, having to deal with all the drama. At some point, you just get tired of dealing with all that stuff and you just want to go be normal and do normal things and fish. So let him go fish and drink beer and enjoy all the things he’s accomplished in the sport and have fun for the next 19 weeks.”
Truex has won 34 races and earned 287 top 10s in 669 starts. Along with winning the Cup Series championship in 2017, the 43-year-old has won the regular season title that year and in 2023.
“Just felt like the right time for me,” Truex said when reporters asked him about his retirement on Friday. “Honestly, I’ve thought about it a lot the past few seasons and just waited for that feeling in my mind to be positive, like this is okay, I’m good, I want to do something else. Yeah, something just felt different this year for me. I felt like it was time to slow down and do something else. It’s been a great ride.”
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