Dale Jr. has decided to call it a career after this season:
Junior struggled with concussion concerns throughout the 2016 season, although we don't know yet if this decision was health-related. While hugely popular, the 42-year old was never quite able to live up to the hype. He did win the Daytona 500 twice, but never won a points championship and only scored one top-five point finish (fifth in 2013) in his last ten seasons. Despite a brief resurgence in 2014 and 2015 - seven combined wins - Earnhardt Jr. only won nine races over a ten season span from 2007-2016.
However, in a sport with declining attendance, losing a legacy star isn't a good thing.