After Martin Truex Jr. announced in 2024 that he would be retiring from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition following the 2024 season, he made clear that he had no plans to be done with NASCAR completely, later confirming plans to compete in the 2025 Daytona 500 and then run select Xfinity Series races throughout the year.
Truex did run the Daytona 500 for Tricon Garage, marking the team's first ever Cup Series appearance. But after that, he was not heard from again throughout the entire rest of the nine-month 2025 season.
Entering the 2025 season, the 2017 Cup Series champion and two-time Xfinity Series champion had made just one Xfinity Series start since 2010. Despite plans to change that in 2025, that is still true.
Martin Truex Jr. NASCAR Xfinity Series plans never materialized
There were no formal developments regarding Truex's plans throughout the year. On the surface, it really was as simple as the fact that nothing ended up happening.
You would think, given the fact that Truex would have been welcomed back at Joe Gibbs Racing's Cup team in 2025 had he not decided to retire, there would have been ample opportunities for him to run a partial Xfinity Series schedule. And all signs point to that being the case.
Joe Gibbs Racing, as usual, ran the "star car", and six drivers spent time behind the wheel of that entry, the No. 19 Toyota, throughout the 33-race season. Those six drivers included Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, and Ty Gibbs, three of their four full-time Cup drivers. With three wins, the No. 19 team even won the owner championship, despite not having a driver in title contention.
And even if Joe Gibbs Racing wasn't an option, Sam Hunt Racing did something similar with their No. 24 Toyota. Eight different drivers combined to run 18 races in that entry, including Bell.
Ryan Truex, Martin's younger brother, ran two races for Sam Hunt Racing during the year. That said, even his schedule, with just those two races, was as light as it's been throughout his entire 16-year NASCAR career, dating back to 2010.
All things considered now, looking back at the season, you'd have to think Truex's "plans" to return for Xfinity Series action were merely his way of keeping the door open to the possibility of running a few races if he felt he wanted to do so. In 2025, he simply did not walk through it, and nothing else has been said about the potential for that to change in 2026.
As for the Daytona 500, neither Tricon Garage nor Truex have confirmed anything for this coming February's season opener.
Aside from the six full-time 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports cars amid those teams' ongoing lawsuit against NASCAR, the only non-chartered (open) car on the Daytona 500 entry list thus far is the No. 40 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, which is set to be driven by Justin Allgaier for the second year in a row.
The recent addition of that car brings the entry total to 37, with just under three months to go until 68th annual "Great American Race" is scheduled to be run at Daytona International Speedway. The field is capped at 40 cars, or 41 if a "world-class driver" provisional spot is granted by NASCAR.
Perhaps Truex really is just simply content emphasizing the word "retired" when it comes to his new role as a retired driver. Should he want to return eventually, however, it's hard to imagine that wouldn't be possibility.