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Martin Truex Jr. receives standing ovation during Cup Series drivers meeting at Phoenix

JHby: Jonathan Howard11/10/24Jondean25
Martin Truex Jr. Phoenix
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Today is the final race for Martin Truex Jr. before he retires from full-time driving and departs the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing machine. During the NASCAR Cup Series drivers meeting at Phoenix, Truex received quite an honor.

A two-time Xfinity Series champion. 2017 Cup Series champion. 34 wins, 25 poles, and a ton of memories along the way. Martin Truex Jr. is a future Hall of Famer, first ballot.

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In his final drivers meeting as a full-timer, Truex Jr. received one of the greatest honors a driver can receive. Truex was showered with a standing ovation and praise from his peers on the Cup Series grid.

Check out this video from Dustin Long of NBC Sports.

Now, some of those drivers may not want to applaud Martin Truex Jr. here in a few minutes. The 19 car is on the pole and he will likely make it difficult on the Championship 4 drivers to go along and win the race and championship all in one go.

On Saturday, Truex Jr. made a statement. He won the pole award last week at Martinsville. Then the race did not go according to plan. So, he had to go out and win the pole award again to close out his NASCAR career. He’s hoping to close it out this time around with a better finish than last week.

Martin Truex Jr. looking to go out with a win

Martin Truex Jr. has won once at Phoenix. This is the third time that he has won the pole. Is it possible that we will see Truex earn one final victory before he heads off into retirement? A little numerology for you – the last two times Truex won the Phoenix pole, he finished P5. When he won, he started P5.

The big story is about the NASCAR Playoff drivers. Joey Logano may have qualified P2, but he lost his ability to pick his pit stall by failing inspection twice. He also had a crew member ejected.

It is typically the car chief who is ejected. Team Penske wants to be at 100% for both Logano and Ryan Blaney and already they are starting behind the ball.

The one thing that is going to go to Logano’s benefit, the fact that he won two three weeks ago. His victory at Las Vegas feels like it was a long time ago. While it wasn’t that long ago, in terms of race prep, Logano and his crew have had a lot more than the other Championship 4 drivers.