Dale Earnhardt Jr. will bring his NASCAR Cup Series driving career to a close at the conclusion of 2017. His Hendrick Motorsports team said the driver made the announcement to the team Tuesday.
Earnhardt, who will turn 43 in October, made his first career Cup Series start on May 30, 1999, at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Since then, the Kannapolis, North Carolina, native has captured 26 points-paying Cup race wins and been voted by fans as NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver a record 14 consecutive years. He has qualified for the NASCAR playoffs eight times.
Now in the midst of his 18th full-time season at the elite Cup level, Earnhardt made his 600th career series start on March 26 at Fontana, California. He will compete in his final NASCAR Cup Series race on Nov. 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Earnhardt has been plagued by injuries during his career, and missed the second half of the 2017 season recovering from a concussion; his third.
The team and Earnhardt will hold a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
After 18 seasons, @DaleJr will bring his Cup Series driving career to a close at the end of 2017.
Info: https://t.co/8n7dRjSc9l pic.twitter.com/REdWACH2KD
— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) April 25, 2017
Now we know why…
You’ve helped make this a better sport for so many of us, we wish you all the best in your retirement.👍🏻😃 https://t.co/9Ze6JZgZ70— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) April 25, 2017
Gonna be different not watching my boss but also one of my closes friends in the sport retire but so proud of him and what he represents!! https://t.co/elXxIW6TD9
— Elliott Sadler (@Elliott_Sadler) April 25, 2017
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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