Earnhardt’s retirement leaves big hole to fill

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is an annual lock to win NASCAR’s most popular driver award and his recently announced retirement at the end of the season will leave the sport without its biggest superstar.

There was a moment during the Bristol Motor Speedway race that captured the essence of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

He was walking briskly to the care center for amandatory health check after a crash. Flanked by a television reporter on one side, a handler on the other, he was explaining why he wrecked while hustling to his destination. A fan approached him frombehind, Earnhardt turned, and the fan was shoved away when it became clear he just wanted a selfie.

Earnhardt never broke stride. He just gave his awshucks smile and continued on his way. Once cleared by the medical staff, he found the fan and posed for the photo.

Earnhardt is a 14-time winner of NASCAR’s most popular driver award for a reason. He’s personable and authentic and as close to the roots of racing as any driver alive today. When he walks away from NASCAR at the end of this season , he will take a lot more than 26 Cup wins.

He will also take a big, reliable chunk of NASCAR’s identity. The big question is whether he will also take Earnhardt Nation and its thousands of fans with him, too. It’s the last thing NASCAR needs in a time of transition, both in terms of structure and in its celebrity lineup of drivers.

NASCAR has already lost Jeff Gordon, the driver who took the sport mainstream and announced his retirement two years ago at 43, just like Earnhardt. Then a year ago it lost Tony Stewart, the talented, volatile rebel who said what everyone was too scared to say out loud.

Carl Edwards, friendly and a strong ambassador, walked away fromNASCAR at the start of this year.

Now here goes Earnhardt, the blue- collar everyman. A third-generation racer from North Carolina who says “ain’t” and “Daddy” and talks the way the good ol’ boys always did.

So what does NASCAR do now, with its most bankable stars rapidly exiting stage left at a time when the sport needs to rebuild its audience?

“It will be an important year for fans to look at what other drivers are out there and who will make them interested in continuing to watch,” said Jill Gregory, chief marketing officer for NASCAR. “We knew these dayswere going to come, we just didn’t know when.”

Gregory said the biggest challenge for NASCAR is introducing the current crop of young talent to fans and giving the drivers a chance to make their own marks rather than pigeonhole them in roles as the next Gordon, Stewart or Earnhardt.

“What is true to them? What is authentic?” asked Gregory. “You look at Kyle Larson, he loves to race. That’s what he is going to do, and allowing him to do what he naturally loves, that’s whatwe want to highlight. I don’t think there’s an effort to say ‘ We’re going to make this guy into the next Jeff Gordon.’

“We have to let it come naturally and what do they gravitate toward, because if it’s natural, that’s what makes it real to the fans. If we are trying to manufacture it, that’s how it is going to be seen. We have to let it play out.”

Earnhardt didn’t hesitate to name the future of the sport: Larson, the current Monster Energy Cup points leader, and Chase Elliott, his current teammate who replaced Gordon last season.