Dale Earnhardt Jr. emotional as NASCAR career nears end

As his driving career nears its end, Dale Earnhardt Jr. admitted Friday that he is starting to get emotional with just two races left before he retires.

Earnhardt announced in April this would be his last season as a full-time NASCAR driver. For much of the season, he hadn’t given his pending retirement much thought until he showed up to Phoenix Raceway, site of Sunday’s Can-Am 500, on Friday and realized he had just two races left in the season and his career.

The 2017 Monster Energy Cup Series season concludes Nov. 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“I feel like I almost need to apologize because I’ve got a pregnant wife, I’m retiring and I just feel like I’m going to break down any minute,” Earnhardt said. “I feel like every answer that I have has some sort of sad undertones and very emotional temperament, but yeah, it’s starting to really sink in.

“[I] got here and I’m like, ‘Man, it’s just a week away. I am not sure that I’m like just ready to be going through all of that emotion that I will have in Homestead, but it’s coming. I hope that I can handle it well, but it’s definitely going to be interesting to see how that feels.”

Earnhardt said his wife, Amy, who is expecting the couple’s first child in May, has gotten even more emotional as NASCAR’s most popular driver began visiting tracks for the final time as a competitor.

Each of those stops have included Earnhardt being feted with gifts and other tokens of appreciation. On Friday, Phoenix officials donated $100,000 in Earnhardt’s name to Childhelp, a nonprofit that helps victims of child abuse, along with giving him a barrel of his favorite brand of pickles, which are only available in Arizona.

“Amy being pregnant, bless her heart, she is tearing up at the drop of a hat,” Earnhardt said. “All these videos and all these things that our partners are creating, this content has just been incredible. It makes you feel so good in your heart; the comments from fans. It is more than you can process.

“I’m sure that Homestead is just going to be like the cork coming out of the bottle. I’m lucky that Amy is going to be there, I’m lucky my family will be there and my team. I will have so much support and I want to support them. It’s going to be emotional for them and our fans.”