Dale Jr

Dale Earnhardt JR To Retire At The End Of Season

DALE EARNHARDT JR. TO RETIRE FROM NASCAR CUP SERIES COMPETITION
FOLLOWING THE 2017 SEASON

CONCORD, N.C. (April 25, 2017) – After 18 seasons and more than 600 races behind the wheel, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will bring his NASCAR Cup Series driving career to a close at the conclusion of 2017. Today, he shared the news with members of his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team.

dale earnhart jr — DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 23: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 National Guard Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 23, 2014 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The fan favorite and two-time Daytona 500 champion will discuss his decision in a press conference this afternoon. He will be joined by Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick, for whom Earnhardt has driven since 2008. The two first met about the driver’s decision on March 29.

Earnhardt, who will turn 43 in October, made his first career Cup Series start on May 30, 1999, at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Since then, the Kannapolis, North Carolina, native has captured 26 points-paying Cup race wins and been voted by fans as NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver a record 14 consecutive years. He has qualified for the NASCAR playoffs eight times.

Now in the midst of his 18th full-time season at the elite Cup level, Earnhardt made his 600th career series start on March 26 at Fontana, California. He will compete in his final NASCAR Cup Series race on Nov. 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Hendrick Motorsports will announce plans for its 2018 team alignment at a later date.

This Week At Bristol Preview

Are you ready for some short track racing at Bristol? Here is a preview of what to look for and who needs to win to get in the chase. Can we have a new driver in the winners circle? Many questions need to be answered.

Get Up Close With Dale Earnhardt Jr at Martinsville

Fans Can See Earnhardt Up Close, On Track With Special Offer

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Aug. 18, 2014) – Race fans will have the opportunity to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. up close and then cheer him on from great seats on the front stretch with the Dale Jr. Offer for the Goody’s® Headache Relief Shot® 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

For $88, fans will have access to a scheduled question and answer session with Earnhardt on the track and a seat in the Blue Ridge Tower for the October 26 race. The Q & A session with Earnhardt is scheduled for 11 a.m. on race day in the Turn 3 area of the track.

“We’re excited about this opportunity for our fans. We believe it is a unique setting … on the track where the drivers will be racing later in the day, listening to one of those drivers talk about the upcoming race,” said Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell. “We think it’s something special, especially for Dale Jr. fans.”

The Goody’s® Headache Relief Shot® 500 has taken on even more importance this fall with the new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format. It will be the first race in the Eliminator Round. A Martinsville win guarantees a driver a berth in the Championship Round. A solid finish at Martinsville is critical, while a poor finish will almost guarantee elimination from the Chase.

Earnhardt is in the midst of one of his best seasons ever with three victories, and has already clinched a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Although he doesn’t have a Martinsville win, it historically is one of his best tracks with 11 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes.

The Blue Ridge Tower, where seats for the Dale Jr Offer are located, is on the front stretch of the half-mile oval, running from the start-finish line to the first turn. The seats will be located in rows 18-66.

Anyone who has already purchased tickets for the Goody’s® Headache Relief Shot® 500 can add the Earnhardt question and answer session for $8 per person.

Tickets to the Goody’s® Headache Relief Shot® 500 on October 26, the Kroger 200 on October 25 and the Virginia Lottery Pole Day on October 24 can be purchased by calling 1.877.RACE.TIX. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.martinsvillespeedway.com.

Pocono 400 Wrap Up

Dale Earnhardt Jr in Victory Lane at Pocono.

Dale Earnhardt Jr on his race today – “We had a real good car in practice yesterday, felt pretty comfortable. Throughout the race we had a pretty fast car. We were mired in fifth or sixth place for the most part of the day, but I knew that our speed was good, and it just really come down to who was going to be leading on that last restart. That guy was going to be the guy that was going to be hard to beat. It’s real hard to pass here, and I knew that dirty air was going to be a big challenge for anybody, so if you can get that clean air like Brad did, he was going to be hard — that was what was going to win the race.

You know, I tried as hard as I could on those restarts to do anything that I thought could give me a shot to get by him, but he was very strong entering the corner especially, so it was hard for me to do anything on restarts. He would get clear pretty easily.

But with about eight laps to go, Steve said he was complaining about his temperatures. He had a lot of stuff on his grille, and I thought for sure he wasn’t going to do anything like he did in Turn 1. I thought he’d just go ahead and motor on and just hopefully the engine made it.

But we got down into Turn 1, we went up the race track to chase that lap car and try to get that stuff off his grille. I don’t know what his temperatures were, but they must have been very, very hot for Brad to do that. I knew right then when he did that, he was so slow, I thought we were going to pass him, we’re going to take the lead, we’re going to have four laps to go, and if I just run tidy corners, he would have trouble. He would have trouble with the dirty air and wouldn’t be able to get to us.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI: Well, first off, really proud of the speed we had today. The guys did a great job. I feel like this one is kind of on me and the circumstances. I was trying to do something to help my car out and I knew it was going to break and I was going to get passed so I was trying to make whatever move I could do to help clean it off, and I’m not sure I did enough to make a difference.
But I made enough of a difference to lose the lead in the process. I thought I had enough of a cushion, and when I got down in the corner and the car in front of me got sideways I realized I had made a mistake. But it was too little, too late, but still proud of the speed, good execution today on probably all ends but mine, and something to look forward to as we move forward and come back here in a month or so.

I probably ran — I probably under-drove the car a little bit there at the end, but I just wanted to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes because if he did get to us, it was going to be challenging because I think he had a little better car there at that particular point. I just had to keep him in dirty air and keep him back there, and he wasn’t going to get within a couple car lengths I don’t think.

Dale Earnhardt Jr Wins at Pocono

Dale Earnhardt jr racecar at Pocono — Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 National Guard Chevrolet, leads a pack of cars during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 8, 2014 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Pictures courtesy of NASCARMEDIA

It is a happy day in JR Nation as Dale Earnhardt Jr won his first race at Pocono. He won the Pocono 400 taking the lead with just a handful of laps to go as Brad Keselowski was overheating due to debris on his grille. Dales previous best finish was 2nd which he has done twice. With this victory it guarantees Dale Jr will be in the chase. This is Dale Jr’s 21st time in Victory lane but his first at Pocono.

It was a strange day at Pocono as many teams were on different pit schedules and many drivers were dealing with tight race cars. Kasey Kahne has a bad crash which also took Carl Edwards out of the race. This is Earnhardt’s first multiple-win season since 2004, when he won six times.

Brad Keselowski (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in nine races at Pocono Raceway. It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2014. Kurt Busch (third) posted his 15th top-10 finish in 26 races at Pocono Raceway. Kyle Larson (fifth) was the highest finishing rookie. Jeff Gordon leads the point standings by 16 points over Matt Kenseth. Jimmie Johnson overcame an accident with Marcos Ambrose on pit road to finish 6th.

Unofficial Race Results Pocono Raceway – 33rd Annual Pocono 400
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics Sunday, 6/8/2014 @ 4:26 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL
Fin Car Driver Team
1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet
2 2 Brad Keselowski Redd’s Ford
3 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet
4 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota
5 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet
6 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet
7 31 Ryan Newman Wix Filters Chevrolet
8 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet
9 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet
10 1 Jamie McMurray Cushman/Cessna Chevrolet
11 15 Clint Bowyer RK Motors Charlotte Toyota
12 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Peanut Butter Toyota
13 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
14 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet
15 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Zest Ford
16 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford
17 3 Austin Dillon # Dow Chevrolet
18 34 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford
19 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
20 7 Michael Annett # Pilot Flying J Chevrolet
21 47 AJ Allmendinger Clorox Chevrolet
22 43 Aric Almirola Nathan’s Famous Ford
23 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet
24 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford
25 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota
26 27 Paul Menard Moen/Menards Chevrolet
27 51 Justin Allgaier # BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
28 38 David Gilliland Long John Silver’s Ford
29 32 Travis Kvapil Corvetteparts.net Ford
30 26 Cole Whitt # Burger King Toyota
31 23 Alex Bowman # Dr.Pepper Toyota
32 83 Ryan Truex # Burger King Toyota
33 40 Landon Cassill(i) Newtown Building Supplies Inc. Chevrolet
34 36 Reed Sorenson Theme Park Connection Chevrolet
35 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford
36 66 Timmy Hill Land Castle Title Toyota
37 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet
38 44 JJ Yeley(i) All City Leasing & Warehousing Chevrolet
39 33 Alex Kennedy Dream Factory Chevrolet
40 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford
41 99 Carl Edwards Kelloggs/Cheez-It Ford
42 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet
43 77 Dave Blaney AmyRFochlerVtrnsLawAttrnyLLC/valor4vets.com

# = Rookie, Fin Average Speed: 139.440 MPH Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 52 Mins, 07 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.439 Seconds
Lead Changes: 21 among 10 drivers Cautions: 7 for 26 laps