Dale Earnhardt Jr. Retiring After 2017

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2017/4/25/dale-earnhardt-jr-retire-following-2017-season.html

(EDIT: Please forgive the brevity of this post as I'm at work and this literally just broke.)

Not surprised considering the concussions and whatnot.

Still, gotta wonder who Hendrick will bring in to replace him?

Ben Atkins wrote:Not surprised considering the concussions and whatnot.

Still, gotta wonder who Hendrick will bring in to replace him?

I bet this is why they kept Alex Bowman around.

RyanB06 wrote:

Ben Atkins wrote:Not surprised considering the concussions and whatnot.

Still, gotta wonder who Hendrick will bring in to replace him?

I bet this is why they kept Alex Bowman around.

Yeah, I'm guessing Bowman to the 88, Byron to the 5 once that one opens up.

I hope Jeffrey Earnhardt gets the ride he deserves a better ride than he is in this season

So my suspicion that this year's 500 could be his last was correct. God damn, that's a shame. I'm shocked that this announcement came so suddenly.

NASCAR is about to lose a huge chunk of its fanbase.

Dale Jr's absence from the cockpit will matter more than however bad (or good, he did have a substantial resurgence a few years back) his on-track results would be if he continued into 2018. He draws positive attention for his efforts just because he has the largest personality in the sport.

In that way alone is he comparable to A.J. Foyt -- and while that may seem like a bad thing, having a car owner that is still a superstar in their own right might be a good thing for NASCAR. If anyone's driving for Foyt, the broadcasters let you know they are pretty quick. The same went for Richard Petty for a long time.

"Carlos Munoz, now driving for A.J. Foyt..."
"...Aric Almirola, driving Richard Petty's car."
"...and here's <driver name>, driving for Dale Earnhardt, Jr."

Given that Petty hasn't been doing well for a long time, maybe it's time for another to step up and take Petty's place as superstar team owner? Maybe it's time for JR Motorsports to be a Cup team as well, to fill the void SHR left?

I think anyone that knows me knows I'm not exactly a fan of Earnhardt Jr. (I don't dislike him, either) but to disregard his impact on the sport is mindless.

Also, I changed the topic name so there's less CAPS LOCK and a bit more clarity.

While at the same time this breaks my heart being a Dale Jr. fan, it is also completely understandable. His competitiveness has certainly seemed to have fallen in the past few years and I think his concussion problems last year was possibly the final nail in the coffin for him. It also does seem like ever since Jeff Gordon took the high road to retirement, others have decided to go the same way as well and this is certainly no exception.

It's probably the best time for him to step away as he can focus on running his own team, and potentially start up a family with his wife, Amy. He seems to be much more relaxed, happy and cheerful than he ever used to be and even on a bad day he can still put on a smile and say, "oh man it is what it is". Although he didn't get to win that coveted Championship, I'm sure he can be happy with what he has achieved in his career including his 27 Cup wins, and his 2 Busch Series Championships in 1998 and 1999.

As for who may take over his ride next season, the only potential candidate for the ride I know his Alex Bowman as he did have some good runs in that car while Dale sat on the sidelines due to his concussion. I do see William Byron's name being thrown around, but he still needs a year or 2 before he's ready for Cup and throwing him in the deep end at the Cup level would not be a smart idea this early in his career.

For my final thoughts on Earnhardt's announcement, I can at least say that I'm glad I got to go to a racetrack and see him race (2011 Aaron's 499, 2013 Sprint Unlimited and 2016 Coke Zero 400). I do hope he can get at least 1 win before the season's end, but regardless he has had a great time as a NASCAR driver and enjoyed it as much as he has been able to.

And if you though the ratings were bad THIS year,...........

Man, so this is how Gordon fans felt in 2015.

Am I shocked. Heck no. Still hurts because he's probably my childhood idol. Everyone here was so into hockey and wanted to play in the NHL, I just always wanted to be Dale.

This could an opportunity for a massive silly season shakeup. There are a few drivers in the top 10 in points who currently do not have a contract in place for 2018, as well as several others outside the top 10.

For example:
Kyle Larson, 1st in points
Brad Keselowski, 5th
Jamie McMurray, 7th
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 16th
Aric Almirola, 19th
Matt Kenseth, 20th
Paul Menard, 25th

Well, he did say he didn't want to race in Cup that far into his forties, plus with the concussion issues and the fact that he probably wants to start a family, I'm not surprised he's retiring at the end of this year. It sucks, but at the very least, he's had a pretty damn good career. 27 Cup wins ranks him in the top 30 all time (believe it or not), and he has two Daytona 500 victories, one of only a handful of drivers who've won the race more than once. He also has some other notables on his resume, like being the first driver to sweep a weekend at Bristol, and being the only driver in history to win four straight at Talladega (the fourth of which came on my 18th birthday. ), and has won the most popular driver award a record 14 straight years (and will probably be 15 after this announcement).

So while he hasn't matched a lot of what his father accomplished, he still has a lot to be proud of. Of course, the season is still young, and he could find his way into the championship hunt, so the search for that elusive title may not be over yet.

But regardless of what happens, thanks, Jr., for being my favorite driver for the last 17 years. May you have a long and happy retirement.

Man, first Fernando Alonso announces he's racing the Indy 500 this year, and then Jr. announces his retirement at the end of this year. Seems like when news breaks in the motorsports world in 2017, it's BIG.

Dale wasn't my all time favorite, but I liked him (probably in my top 10). It's strange, I'm surprised he's actually retiring but at the same time I'm not.

He had a pretty good career, he may not have a cup championship but 2 Daytona 500's and 27 wins is still pretty impressive.

BurningThunder wrote:

zfitzwater599 wrote:I hope Jeffrey Earnhardt gets the ride he deserves a better ride than he is in this season

driving his nephew's car yes

I didn't know Jeffrey Earnhardt was related to Rick Hendrick...

RyanB06 wrote:I didn't know Jeffrey Earnhardt was related to Rick Hendrick...

No Jeffrey Earnhardt is related to Dale Jr

zfitzwater599 wrote:I hope Jeffrey Earnhardt gets the ride he deserves a better ride than he is in this season

Jeffrey Earnhardt taking over the #88 is guaranteed not happening. Jeffrey has always been very clear that he does not want to be given a ride because of his family name. I have to respect that. And as it stands, this being his rookie season, he's got a lot to prove.

Personally I say give the #88 to Alex Bowman. Had some good runs driving that car when he was filling in for Junior last season, damn near won a few times too. I don't think we've seen all of what Bowman can do in good equipment yet.

I have to wonder what Earnhardt Jr. will be doing next year. I could see him dabbling in sportscar racing (I recall hearing once that his dad planned on racing Corvettes post-retirement), as well as some short track stuff. And I think that JR Motorsports will continue to be a big factor in Xfinity.

He's going out on his own terms, and that's an admirable thing in many ways. I would imagine that NASCAR executives are losing some sleep over this. They've already had Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Carl Edwards retire. Now their most popular driver of all is hanging up his helmet. Who does that leave? Not many of the stars from the peak of NASCAR's popularity are left - yes, there's Harvick and Johnson, and I can see them hanging around for a while. Same with the Buschs and Denny Hamlin. But Kenseth seems poised to retire in the not too distant future. It wouldn't surprise me if Newman wanders off before too long. Same with Kahne.

Larson and Chase Elliot - and beyond them Suarez, Byron, and Erik Jones - have the potential to be superstars of the future, but with the rut that NASCAR is in right now, I'm not sure they'll get the kind of exposure they need. The bottom line is that NASCAR racing hasn't been great over the past few years. IndyCar and IMSA have often times had more exciting racing, now that F1 seems to be really competitive too. I think NASCAR has a lot of holdover fans from the late 90s and early 2000s when they were doing great. But as the drivers from that time fade, so will the fans from that time.

Jr's has had a good career, and it'll be interesting to see how the rest of the year goes for him and beyond. I seriously hope he races some Corvettes. I'd love to see him at Le Mans.

zfitzwater599 wrote:I hope Jeffrey Earnhardt gets the ride he deserves a better ride than he is in this season

Jeffery had one race with JRM. He only finished 17th, and that wasn't because of a problem.

I wasn't surprised but I was shocked as much as anyone was when he announced he was retiring. Given his history with concussion problems, it was the right thing to do for him.

He wasn't my favorite but was in my top 5. Of his 26 career wins in Cup, his greatest was in the 2001 Pepsi 400 at Daytona after his father Dale Sr. passed away. I'll always remember that day. He may not be as good as his dad, but still a heck of a talent nonetheless.

Hope he'll get a win before the year's out. And I certainly hope Alex Bowman gets the #88 ride in 2018.