It is obvious Earnhardt’s exit will be a blow to stock-car racing, but NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France was one of the many to congratulate his star athlete.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrates his Budweiser Duel 1 win Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway. He has 26 victories and has won more than $95 million in prize money. He drives the Chevrolet SS No. 88 for NASCAR and owns his own racing team.
2015: Wins the Coke Zero 400 in another rain-delayed race at Daytona for his 10th career victory on a restrictor-plate track.
Earnhardt’s concussion has helped change the way the injury is perceived. He will be 43 at the end of the season.
“I just wanted to make that decision for my health and not have it made for me”, Earnhardt Jr. said Tuesday at a press conference to officially confirm his plans to retire. He’s been a huge — when I really want to know the facts, I’ll sit down with Dale, and he’ll give me the unfiltered no bias, hey, this guy’s good for this. I certainly wouldn’t make that mistake after he passed. “I’m at peace with the decision”.
Though retiring, Earnhardt promised he will still be active with racing.
Earnhardt walked into Rick Hendrick’s office on March 29 and informed his long-time friend and boss of his decision to retire.
There is a special bond between the Earnhardt family and Daytona. It was an emotional meeting for both. Ultimately, he thanked NASCAR for giving him a place to race: “I’ve never taken that for granted”. “We want what’s best for Dale”. So this is a new batch of guys that are going to do things in a new way.
“I actually thought he was going to retire before this season when he got those couple of concussions past year”, Thornton said. His return wasn’t guaranteed.
In the last question at the news conference where he announced his retirement, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was asked what his late father would have said to him upon hearing his decision.
“I knew your daddy pretty well”, Hendrick said. His first Cup win came as a rookie at Texas Motor Speedway in 2000, and he won the NASCAR All-Star Race that season as well. If you said his last name, you’re missing the point.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. adjusts his helmet before getting in his vehicle during NASCAR auto racing practice session at Daytona International Speedway, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Trace Adkins released “Rough & Ready” as the second single from Comin’ on Strong in 2004, and though it wasn’t one of his biggest hits – “Rough & Ready” peaked at No. 13, and receives very little continuing airplay today – it was accompanied by a video that featured Earnhardt in a blink-and-you-missed it cameo role. Earnhardt does, too. As well known as he is, celebrity doesn’t cling to him. After leading for 116 or 160 laps, Earnhardt Jr. won the race, later saying that his father “was with me tonight”.
“I don’t think one of them stands over the other”, he said. Is Carl Edwards really going to come out of retirement? I just wanted to be able to do it. I didn’t set goals like – I didn’t dream of winning championships or Daytona 500s or working with one of the best owners in business, driving for one of the best organizations. But that’s just me being a bit selfish. I’m more concerned with the fallout. “I’m good on that front”.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. lives with his wife, Amy, whom he married in 2016. Earlier this year, Carl Edwards shocked the NASCAR community when he did the same despite almost winning a championship last season.
In the Poconos, Earnhardt is no stranger, having raced for years at Pocono Raceway.
In a sport already struggling with an identity crisis as it is, losing Earnhardt on top of the star power it’s already seen step away in recent years would seem like almost a death blow, right? “It kind of stings because Dale Earnhardt Jr.is the most popular driver there is”. The two had a very healthy talk where they opened-up more than ever before. “I think I can replicate that in the next chapter of my life”.
Earnhardt has driven for Hendrick since 2008 after a nasty split with Dale Earnhardt Inc., the team founded by his father but run by his stepmother.
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“I never would assume he was proud of me when he was alive”, said Earnhardt.
