Dale Earnhardt Jr. Speculates on Why NASCAR Drivers Retire Early Compared to Racers in the Past

The current Cup Series field is filled with star drivers in their 30s, who are bound to retire within the next decade. From Joey Logano to Kyle Larson, none can be expected to be hanging around the garages after 40.

But there was a time in the sport when it was completely natural for drivers to be racing well into their 50s or even past 60. Back then, it was so common that it seemed the most natural thing to do.

So, what has changed in NASCAR? Dale Earnhardt Jr. spoke about this in a recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast.

“Larson might go run dirt. Just say, ‘That was great. 20 years in the Cup Series. Awesome. I’m out.’ Chase Elliot, Blaney, Byron, why do we feel like that they won’t race till they’re 45 or 50 years old? I just think it’s the demand of the season. How long are they?” said Junior.

The demands of the extensive schedule push drivers today to a point in their lives where they start thinking that they have had enough of being on the road. For instance, Logano might wake up one day and choose to go watch his kids race on the weekends or play football. Such family priorities eventually take over the desire to race on Sundays.

“You’re missing key moments. You miss a lot if you have kids, right? Like, Joey’s missing tons of moments now. At some point, he’s going to go, ‘All right, I’m not missing this stuff,” said Dale Jr.

“I’ve missed all of these years, and now the kids are older.’ They’re doing things in school, and different things are going on in their lives that he wants to be a witness to,” he explained.

Logano, in fact, has already spoken about what he would love to do after quitting.

Logano’s wish to follow the steps of Dale Jr. in retirement

Team Penske’s No. 22 driver is 35 years old now. It is going to be a while before he announces his retirement, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t given any thoughts about what he wants to do after it.

Sure, Logano will be spending a lot of time with his family and making up for all the lost hours. But the one other thing he wants to do is take up a career path that will allow him to give back to the sport that has given him so much.

This is precisely what the likes of Jeff Gordon and Junior have done by taking up roles within the sport or an industry associated with it. 

“Post-racing, I’ll be involved. I’ll be around in some way because the people before me did that for me, and I should do that for the next generation,” Logano said during his pre-race interview at Phoenix.