In a career spanning nearly two decades at stock car racing’s highest level, Martin Truex Jr. has decided that 2024 will be his final season as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver. The 2017 Cup Series champion plans to retire after next year, multiple sources confirmed to FOX Sports on Thursday.

The Athletic first reported the 43-year-old Truex’s impending retirement earlier in the day. He is expected to officially announce his decision during media availability at Iowa Speedway on Friday.

Truex’s retirement will bring an end to a highly successful Cup tenure that has seen him accumulate 34 career victories to date, including his championship-winning 2017 campaign. 32 of those wins have come since 2015, establishing him as one of the most prolific winners of the past decade.

While winless so far in 2024, Truex currently sits fifth in the Cup Series standings in what will be the final season of his career at NASCAR’s top level. His impending exit will create another high-profile open seat for 2025 at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Truex, who turns 44 later this month, has been operating on a series of one-year contracts with JGR in recent seasons. But with his latest deal expiring after 2024, JGR pressed for a decision on his future plans as several coveted free agents like Chase Briscoe become available for 2025 amid the shutdown of Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cup program.

The New Jersey native’s path to the Cup Series began with back-to-back Xfinity Series titles in 2004 and 2005 for Chance 2 Motorsports. He made his Cup debut in 2004 and ran full seasons from 2006-2013, first with Dale Earnhardt Inc./Ganassi Racing and then Michael Waltrip Racing.

JGR has been Truex’s home since 2019, adding to an accomplished NASCAR resume that currently stands at 34 Cup wins and 146 top-five finishes across 673 career starts. Those numbers should assure Truex’s enshrinement in the NASCAR Hall of Fame down the road.

While one legendary career is winding down, JGR and other Cup teams must now turn their attention to the next generation of stars who could take over Truex’s No. 19 Toyota in 2025 and beyond.