After one heck of a career spanning 18 seasons, and more than 600 races, Dale Earnhardt Jr. plans to retire after the 2017 season. 

In a press release from Hendrick Motorsports, Earnhardt broke the news to his team after first discussing it with team owner Rick Hendrick on March 29th. Earnhardt made his first career Cup Series start on May 30th back in 1999 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Since then, he's 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.

He will compete in his final NASCAR Cup Series race on November 19th at Homestead-Miami Speedway.


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