Timeline Of Events That Led Dale Earnhardt Jr. To Retire From NASCAR

The NASCAR world awoke Tuesday to the surprise news the sport’s most popular driver was calling it quits.

Although Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s decision to retire from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series after the 2017 season caught some off guard, as he still is one of the most marketable drivers, many fans weren’t surprised, considering the events of the last 12 months leading up to Hendrick Motorsports’ announcement.

Earnhardt missed the final 18 races of the 2016 season with a concussion, so some anticipated him hanging up his helmet — if not ahead of this season, then relatively soon. The driver of the No. 88 fought hard to get back behind the wheel, though, keen to try one last time to clinch his first Cup championship.

How did we get from there to here? Below is a timeline of the events leading up to Junior’s retirement.

June 12, 2016: Crashes at Michigan International Speedway
On Lap 62 of last year’s FireKeepers Casino 400, Chris Buescher made contact with Earnhardt’s left-rear quarter panel, sending his No. 88 into the wall. Though the contact with the SAFER barrier wasn’t the hardest collision of Earnhardt’s career (he has said he felt fine after the race), doctors determined the June 12 wreck was the cause of his season-ending concussion. His symptoms wouldn’t arise until roughly a month later, however.

July 2, 2016: Crashes at Daytona International Speedway
Because he didn’t show signs of concussion-like symptoms immediately following his crash in Michigan, Earnhardt competed in the next three races. That likely contributed to the delayed onset of his symptoms, as Earnhardt was involved in another crash at Daytona. His crash at Daytona was seemingly a harder impact, hitting the spinning No. 48 head on.

July 14, 2016: Misses New Hampshire 301
Following the July race at Kentucky Motor Speedway, Earnhardt began experiencing what he thought were severe allergies that were affecting his balance. After learning his equilibrium issues stemmed from a concussion, rather than allergies, Earnhardt announced he would sit out the summer race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

July 15, 2016: Jeff Gordon announced as potential replacement
Four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon was on vacation in France at the time of the New Hampshire 301, so Alex Bowman replaced Earnhardt for that race. While announcing Bowman would compete in the Cup race in New Hampshire, however, Hendrick also revealed Gordon would come out of retirement to drive the No. 88 in the Brickyard 400 if Earnhardt wasn’t yet fit to race.

July 17, 2016: Earnhardt details symptoms in weekly podcast
With Earnhardt’s symptoms showing up weeks after his Michigan crash, people around the sport had lots of questions regarding his condition. He wasn’t able to provide those answers in person, as he didn’t make the trip to New Hampshire, so Earnhardt shed some light on the situation in his weekly podcast, the “Dale Jr. Download.” It was during this podcast that Earnhardt first stressed he wasn’t going to rush his recovery.

July 20, 2016: Gordon to replace Earnhardt
In a short statement, Hendrick confirmed Gordon not only would would fill Earnhardt’s seat for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but also the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway.

July 24, 2016: Earnhardt reveals recovery could take a while
Earnhardt took to his podcast again to inform fans that his recovery will take some time. The 42-year-old said he tried to convey that message in the previous week’s podcast, but wanted to do so more directly. Given his prior history with concussions, he said he wasn’t going to try to come back any sooner than the doctors wanted him to.

Aug. 2, 2016: Gordon to continue driving No. 88
Following his update on his rehabilitation, it came as little surprise when HMS confirmed Earnhardt would miss the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen. Although fans wanted to see Earnhardt back behind the wheel, his missing the race at Watkins Glen International allowed them to see Gordon make his 800th career start.

Sept. 2, 2016: Earnhardt to miss remainder of season
After missing six races, Hendrick announced the inevitable: Earnhardt would sit out the remainder of the 2016 campaign. While the absence of a big-name driver such as Earnhardt in the field wasn’t ideal for NASCAR, it did showcase how seriously the sport was about its concussion protocols.

Dec. 8, 2016: Earnhardt cleared to race in 2017
After he completed 185 laps during a private test at Darlington Raceway, Earnhardt received the green light from doctors to return to competition in 2017. In addition, Dr. Micky Collins, medical director of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program in Pittsburgh, praised Earnhardt as “one of the hardest-working patients” he’d ever treated.

Feb. 18, 2017: Earnhardt serves as analyst during The Clash at Daytona 
Before starting his 18th — and, ultimately, final Cup season — Earnhardt tried his hand as an analyst during FOX Sports 1’s broadcast of The Clash. At the time, it seemed like just a way for Earnhardt to have a presence at the exhibition event while he allowed Bowman to drive the No. 88. In hindsight, it could have been Earnhardt’s way of dipping his toe in the broadcasting pool before making the jump to a full-time commentator.

Feb. 26, 2017: Earnhardt returns to competition in Daytona 500
Earnhardt’s return to action couldn’t have come at a better time for NASCAR. The Daytona 500 always is the highest profile event on the calendar, and for 2017, it also was the first race since NASCAR signed Monster Energy as the title sponsor for Cup. With all that attention on Earnhardt, his race was cut short by a typical restrictor-plate wreck, the exact opposite of what people within the sport wanted to see happen.

April 24, 2017: Crashes at Bristol Motor Speedway
Although Earnhardt was uninjured in the incident at Daytona, the crash was an omen. His luck didn’t turn around much through the first seven races, and that trend continued in the Food City 500. Earnhardt’s race again was cut short by a wreck, though it wasn’t serious enough that he sustained injuries.

April 25, 2017: Earnhardt announces retirement
While the wreck at Bristol didn’t cause Earnhardt to sustain any injuries, it seemingly was the straw that broke the camel’s back, as the following day he announced he will retire at the end of the season. By walking away, he leaves NASCAR with the task of quickly branding younger drivers, such as Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez, as the new stars of the sport.

Thumbnail photo via NASCAR