Dale Earnhardt Jr. Will Retire Following 2017 NASCAR Season

Hendrick Motorsports announced Tuesday that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will retire at the conclusion of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season.

In a press release from Hendrick Motorsports, it was revealed that Earnhardt broke the news to his team Tuesday after first discussing it with team owner Rick Hendrick on March 29.

Earnhardt will make an official announcement regarding his retirement Tuesday afternoon.

His sister and co-owner of JR Motorsports, Kelley Earnhardt, tweeted the following about his decision:

The 42-year-old Earnhardt is in the midst of his 18th Cup Series season.

He missed the final 18 races of the 2016 campaign due to concussion-like symptoms before returning to action for the 2017 season.

When discussing his concussion history and return to racing on NPR's Out of Bounds on April 9, Earnhardt said he would stop racing when he no longer enjoyed it:

"

I took a big risk, I think, to come back to race. Although I'm healthy, I'm still at danger, just like anyone else out there racing, to get concussions. And having gone through it at one point — during the worst, sickest part about it - I really didn't want to have anything to do with racing. But as I got healthier, I got the itch, I guess, or the urge to come back. And I just want to race as long as I'm enjoying it. When I no longer enjoy it, I find something else to enjoy.

"

Earnhardt has 26 career Cup Series wins to his credit, and he has been voted NASCAR's most popular driver every year since 2003.

Although he has qualified for the Chase on eight occasions, Earnhardt has yet to win a points title. His best finish came in 2003 when he took third in the standings.

Earnhardt is in jeopardy of potentially missing out on the Chase this season following a slow start.

The veteran is 24th in the standings and has recorded just one top-10 finish in eight starts thus far.

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