“He Knows It’s Enough…”

The storm that brewed with Front Row Motorsports’ shuffle caught up with Joe Gibbs Racing last week. After Michael McDowell announced his exit from FRM, his JGR rival decided to exit from the racetrack altogether. Martin Truex Jr’s retirement plan comes after several ‘will-he-or-won’t-he’ dalliances in previous seasons.

But his compatriots wished that he would stall his retirement yet again. Teammates like Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell hailed Martin Truex Jr’s respectful nature. But the one person with whom Truex has publicly clashed several times turned out to be the closest.

Martin Truex Jr’s crew chief is happy for himADVERTISEMENT

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Furniture Row Racing flourished under a particular driver-crew chief duo. Martin Truex Jr and Cole Pearn achieved 17 Cup victories and the 2017 championship, shooting the team to astronomical heights of success. So when Pearn resigned in 2020, Truex was a little sad. The new crew chief, James Small, was a relative newcomer atop the pit box.

But Truex achieved a different kind of camaraderie with his new partner. JGR fans got treated to heated radio exchanges between the two – so were they stern enemies? Absolutely not! It was their unique communication style that helped clinch eight victories over four years.

Now as Martin Truex Jr stands at the cusp of his post-NASCAR story, Small is content. “I think it’s good to be done now.” But he hinted that Truex is still indecisive, another testimony to their strong relationship. “You know, you can see the thing weighing on him the last four-five weeks of what he is going to do. I thought he was pretty convinced at the start about what he was going to do. You can see it changing a little bit, maybe having some second thoughts.”

Yet the No. 19 crew chief holds no regrets, prioritizing his track partner’s mental state. “I’m glad he’s just in a happy place now that…He’s at the point where he knows it’s enough and he can just move on.” Martin Truex Jr still needs to go out with a bang, and Small added, “We really need to make the playoffs this year and I think we’re in a good position to do it. We can have a good end to the year and send him off on a high.”

Martin Truex Jr and James Small’s contradictory relationship played out last year in Dover. What seemed like a verbal scuffle turned out to be fruitful teamwork.

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Truex soared to victory with his crew chief’s helpAt the 2022 regular-season finale in Daytona, Martin Truex Jr was genuinely miffed at James Small. Following the No. 19 crew chief’s instructions led Truex into a wreck. Although the car emerged unscathed, Truex disliked the aggressive approach. But a similar disagreement at Dover 2023 ultimately ended in clinching a trophy.

Small made a crucial pit stop call late in the race. While others like Ross Chastain changed four tires, Truex pitted for only two. The No. 19 driver snapped at his crew chief, who snapped back. Small insisted over the radio: “What we did was correct. Keep driving please.” Eventually, Martin Truex Jr restarted first and held off a hard-charging Ross Chastain, winning by half a second.

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“A lot of times it’s a 50/50 deal, like today, two or four,” Truex said. “If you’re the leader and you do four, then somebody is probably going to take two, and what if you don’t win, then you look like an idiot.” And James Small made him look like a winner.

Evidently, a very successful racetrack relationship will come to an end after Martin Truex Jr bids adieu to his Cup career.