Jeff Burton didn’t hold back when it came to his thoughts on Martin Truex Jr. retiring from NASCAR. While talking to Nate Ryan of NBC Sports, the former NASCAR driver and current analyst explained why Truex announced his retirement this year.
“I just don’t think the casual fan can understand how grueling of a lifestyle it is,” Burton began. ” Look, it’s not without reward. It’s not a pity party here. It’s not without reward, it’s not without good pay, it’s not without a lot of things that a lot of people would just be very envious of. But it is a massive sacrifice.
“…My wife knew she came second. My kids knew they came second. My family knew they came second. I don’t deserve a Father of the Year award, I don’t deserve a Husband of the Year award because I had to put everything I had into being successful. That meant no matter what was going on if something, anything with race came up, that’s what I did. When you do that for a certain amount of time, when you’re young and you have partners that support you, that’s really important, then you just go do it. But as you age and you start seeing, you start to appreciate a little more of the things that you’re missing. I just think that’s where Martin is.”
Jeff Burton shares more on Martin Truex Jr.
Burton went on to say that Truex is in his 40s and spent of lot of time competing. He then said eventually you “get to the point where you know you don’t have enough to give that it’s doing to take to be successful.”
Burton added that he had to give 110 percent to have success in NASCAR. “Martin has a way that he does what he does, and if he doesn’t do it like that, he knows he’s not gonna be successful,” Burton explained. “…Most people don’t leave this sport on their own terms. Most people get asked to leave or they don’t get a welcome back. Martin recognizes that if he doesn’t do it at the level that it’s required, he’s not going to be welcomed back.”
Truex began racing in the Cup Series full-time in 2006. In 669 Cup Series races, the 43-year-old has earned 34 victories and 287 top-10 finishes. Truex won the Cups Series regular-season title twice and the Cup Series Championship in 2017.
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