Well, that didn’t last long. Actually, it hasn’t even technically started. Martin Truex Jr.’s “retirement” from the NASCAR Cup Series, scheduled to take effect after the 2024 season, is on hold for one more race — the 2025 Daytona 500.
Truex, winless in 20 Daytona 500 starts, will attempt to qualify for The Great American Race with a team that’s never entered a NASCAR Cup Series event.
So, what’s the team and how likely is the 2017 Cup Series champion to be a factor when cars roll into The World Center of Racing in a little less than a month?
Truex’s Team for Daytona 500 Cameo is a NASCAR Cup Series Neophyte
With Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) already at NASCAR’s four-car maximum for a single organization, it wasn’t an option for Truex to make a one-off appearance for his former team at the Daytona 500.
So, instead of suiting up for JGR — the company where he spent his last six seasons as a full-time Cup driver — he’ll try to make the Daytona 500 in a Toyota fielded by TRICON Garage. No, that’s not the name of a local repair shop. It’s the name of a Mooresville, North Carolina-based NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team owned by former Cup Series driver David Gilliland.
We’re going beyond the limits of the Truck Series.
TRICON will attempt the Daytona 500 in our @NASCAR Cup debut alongside @MartinTruex_Jr and @BassProShops ‼️ pic.twitter.com/FyevxKi2E0
— TRICON (@TRICONGarage) January 16, 2025
Known as David Gilliland Racing before assuming its current name and switching from Ford to Toyota ahead of the 2023 season, TRICON Garage has actually accomplished a lot in a relatively short time in the Truck Series.
Since the rebrand, the multi-vehicle team has earned nine victories, 50 top-five finishes and consecutive Championship 4 appearances in NASCAR’s truck division. So, when it wasn’t possible for Truex to contest the Daytona 500 with JGR or even Michael Jordan- and Denny Hamlin-owned JGR affiliate 23XI Racing, Truex had to go back to the proverbial drawing board.
His best option? Trying to secure a spot on the Daytona 500 grid with a team that’s never entered a NASCAR Cup Series event but that’s part of the Toyota family and has achieved notable success in a short time at a lower but nonetheless competitive level of the sport.
“This opportunity is a testament to the dedication of our entire organization and our partners at Toyota,” Gilliland said. “Having raced against Martin for many years, I can confidently say there’s no stronger competitor I’d want behind the wheel for our first Cup Series entry at the sport’s most prestigious race.”
Not All of Truex’s Surroundings at Daytona Will Be So Unfamiliar
Truex, of course, is no stranger to success at Daytona International Speedway, or any other track. He’s posted 34 Cup Series wins over a career bound to land him future enshrinement in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
But now his focus is squarely on Daytona and adding the Harley J. Earl Daytona 500 winner’s trophy to the hardware he collected over 19 seasons of full-time competition in NASCAR’s premier division.
Truex came oh-so-painfully close to triumphing in the 2016 Daytona 500, losing to fellow Toyota driver Hamlin by one-hundredth of a second in a photo finish that’s since been replayed countless times. His crew chief in that race — and for all but 10 of his Cup Series wins — was Cole Pearn, who left the sport two years after guiding Truex to his lone Cup title.
In 2016, @dennyhamlin captured the first of his three #DAYTONA500 victories by that much 🤏 over @MartinTruex_Jr! pic.twitter.com/9bOiKZNhBk
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 10, 2021
Pearn will briefly come out of retirement to call the shots at Daytona on Truex’s No. 56 car, which will sport the colors of longtime primary sponsor Bass Pro Shops founded by Truex’s close friend Johnny Morris.
So while Truex might be in unfamiliar territory with TRICON Garage, he’ll be right at home with Pearn, Toyota, Bass Pro Shops and carrying the No. 56 — which he campaigned at Michael Waltrip Racing from 2010 to 2013. Plus, TRICON Garage will have technical support from JGR on Truex’s Daytona 500 car, so it’s not like the team is starting completely from scratch for its Cup Series debut.
“It’s going to be a really cool deal to be able to work with Cole and have the number 56 again,” Truex said. “I really appreciate everyone at Bass Pro Shops, TRICON and Toyota helping put this together to go have some fun, and I can’t think of a better time to go win the thing for Johnny Morris.”
