Dale Earnhardt Jr. just made a stunning announcement about his racing future

Twitter/TeamHendrick

Via a stunning early morning announcement by his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team on April 25, NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., will retire from racing at the end of 2017.

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His race team announced the news with a tweet that was then was retweeted by Dale’s wife Amy.

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“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,” the release reads. “Today, he shared the news with members of his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team. 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.”

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The fan favorite has been much on fans’ minds, as he returned this year from a concussion that ended his season prematurely in 2016.

Hendrick Motorsports says that Dale will discuss his decision in an afternoon press conference on April 25 and will be joined by Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick.

Stay tuned to Rare Country for more details on this breaking story.

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