{"id":11002,"date":"2017-04-25T20:58:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T20:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/04\/25\/dale-earnhardt-jr-retiring-from-nascar-at-seasons-end\/"},"modified":"2017-04-25T20:58:00","modified_gmt":"2017-04-25T20:58:00","slug":"dale-earnhardt-jr-retiring-from-nascar-at-seasons-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/dale-earnhardt-jr-retiring-from-nascar-at-seasons-end\/","title":{"rendered":"Dale Earnhardt Jr. Retiring From NASCAR At Season's End"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Camila Domonoske<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
\n
\n
Enlarge this image<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

\n Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, walks through the garage area during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee on Saturday.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/b>hide caption<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

toggle caption<\/b><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

One of NASCAR’s most popular drivers \u2014 and one of its most famous names \u2014 is leaving the racetrack. Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced Tuesday that he’s retiring at the end of the season.<\/p>\n

Earnhardt recently took a long break to recover from a series of concussions.<\/p>\n

Just a few weeks ago, he told NPR he wasn’t sure when he’d be leaving the sport.<\/p>\n

“I’m 42, and I look online at statistics of other drivers and not many of them had a ton of success beyond 45,” Earnhardt told NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro<\/a>. “There are a few. But I haven’t really decided when I’m going to hang it up.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But The Associated Press reports that Earnhardt told his employer, Hendrick Motorsports, about his plans to retire on March 29, more than a week before Earnhardt’s interview with NPR.<\/p>\n

The third-generation NASCAR superstar has long been a fan favorite.<\/p>\n

His departure from the sport comes on the heels of Jeff Gordon’s retirement<\/a> at the end of the 2015 season, and Tony Stewart’s retirement<\/a> in 2016. (Gordon filled in temporarily last year when Earnhardt was unable to race.) The AP writes that the high-profile departures leave “a major void in NASCAR star power.”<\/p>\n

Recently, Earnhardt has been a major advocate for concussion awareness.<\/p>\n

“We’ve learned a lot of things in the past 20 years,” he told NPR, explaining that technology has improved to keep drivers safer \u2014 and NASCAR culture has shifted, too.<\/p>\n