Dale jr is retiring at the end of the season

Heard it while out in one of my cars on the hourly NPR update.

I'm sure there are a lot of racing news sites with the information, but it was interesting to hear it on NPR.

I guess NASCAR is still slightly newsworthy then.

Is he retiring from doing Monster Energy commercials? I don't even know if he still drives a car.

EDIT: He always seemed like a normal dude who would rather be doing something else... trapped by his legacy so to speak. NASCAR will be hurt by him leaving more than he will be hurt to go.

Good thing NASCAR isn't a publically traded company - the stock price would probably be tanking right now...

I doubt this surprises anyone in the garage. Or even anyone who casually follows NASCAR such as myself. Sounds like he is basically one more bad wreck/concussion away from being done anyway.

I'm glad to see him step away, I don't think the risk is worth it for him. Besides, he's just not running all that well anymore.

It'll "sting" for NASCAR, but they'll survive. They survived when Richard Petty retired, they survived when Dale Sr. died, they'll survive this too. I know not many here are NASCAR fans, but they do have a pretty good group of young drivers, so I think that will be good for them.

It might be the motivation they need to re-boot the series somehow.

I don't watch NASCAR, but did watch a few min of a race in Arizona recently. I was a bit surprised how empty the stands where. Maybe 20% full? Not a good sign (maybe something else was going on there?).

Based on merch sales/sponsorship, he is arguably the greatest ever.

aircooled wrote: It might be the motivation they need to re-boot the series somehow.

Good gimmickey racing with a bunch of new exciting drivers.

Dale should quit. All the glory in the world won't make up for scrambled brains.

He needs to focus on his health. Good for him. He hasn't been the same after that last concussion.

etifosi wrote: Based on merch sales/sponsorship, he is arguably the greatest ever.

I'm pretty sure that IS the criteria NASCAR uses for determining who is their champion.

Yeah, I certainly can't blame him with all the health issues he's had.

I'd like to see/hear him in the booth more. He does a good job of commentating.

He will still win the most popular driver award for the next few years...

stafford1500 wrote: He will still win the most popular driver award for the next few years...

Didn't Bill Elliott win it after he retired?

There will be a lot of people around here on suicide watch tonight!

I hope he goes to the TV side of things. The couple of races he was in the booth he was excellent!!!

Appleseed wrote: I'd like to see/hear him in the booth more. He does a good job of commentating.

I agree, but I'm just shocked by it. He spent the first twenty years of his career mumbling dull nothings. Recently, I presume through the intervention of his girlfriend/wife and a healthy helping of toastmasters, he is actually interesting, and mostly articulate and insightful.

I bet the broadcasting offers are all lined up, and probably have been for quite a while.

I'm guessing after the many decades of being in front of a camera and talking for commercials, he's become fairly comfortable in that setting. Hell, the way he pulls off some of those Nationwide commercials, you'd almost think he could go into sit-coms. Almost.

It would be interesting to hear him commentate on THE CAN* races so we can have Jeff Gordon to provide the view of a Champion and then we can also hear what Dale thinks.

*Monster comes in a can, not a cup.

Good for him. He's won plenty of races--- he'll always be respected by fans. He never had a hope of eclipsing his father's accomplishments, and I'm sure he was tired of being compared to him long ago. I've always liked that he (unlike many other drivers) has a lot of respect for the guys that paved the way for him. He's a student of the history of NASCAR--- Dale Jr. never forgot that guys like Tim Flock, Fireball Roberts and Curtis Turner made it possible for him to be such a lucky, wealthy guy.

He'll do well in the announcer's booth. He's humble, knowledgeable and a very likable guy. I had the chance to meet him a few years ago during a GM party at SEMA. He was much nicer than he needed to be. We spoke for maybe 20 minutes, and I was really impressed with how down to earth, and cool he was. He's always seemed to be a nice guy. He had plenty of talent too---- just maybe not the raw "win at any cost" attitude his Dad had.

I got to agree with everything to said Joe. Really good guy. His Irish setters were really fun to play with on the infield of TMS before the weekend got serious.

+++++ Joe Gearin. I watched a special on him and came away a fan. I was not before that. He was never going to be his dad and I'm glad Richard Childress didn't out him in the 3 car.

etifosi wrote: Based on merch sales/sponsorship, he is arguably the greatest ever.

This is genius, and you may have just explained professional wrestling to me. (I have always wondered how they pick the winner - like do they rock paper scissors before each match?)

In reply to Robbie:

Whoever sells the best. It's why john cena has been champ so many times. Pro wrestling politics are fascinating, and Vince is an egomaniac.

He's decent on a road course. I'd like to see him dip a toe into something like PWC or Continental Tire series. They could use the publicity he would bring.