Dale Earnhardt Jr. Announces Retirement From NASCAR After 2017 Season

Hendrick Motorsports announced Tuesday in a press release that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will retire following the 2017 NASCAR season at age 42. The announcement comes as somewhat of a shock because of its timing. Dale Jr. confirmed Tuesday that the current Monster Energy Cup NASCAR Series season will be his last as a driver.

Earhardt Jr. is a two-time Daytona 500 winner and 14-time Most Popular Driver. He and his team owner Rick Hendrick will talk about his decision to retire this afternoon at 3 p.m. at Hendrick Motorsports in Concord, North Carolina.

Earnhardt’s retirement at a relatively young age isn’t really a complete shock. There’s no arguing that he still loves driving race cars and looks forward to the weekly competition however, he’s never been someone who must have racing to make his life complete…especially when you look at his late father, seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt.

Earnhardt Jr. has been the 14-time Most Popular Driver and has won 26 times in 603 starts over his career. He began racing at the age of 24 in 1999. In the long line of accomplishments are two Daytona 500 crowns (2004 and 2014) and two championships (1998 and 1999) in what is now called the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

The press confrence with Dale Earnhardt Jr. below:



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