“I just went in there, unloaded all my anxiety and frustrations, and walked out”: When Dale Jr. revealed how he conveyed his retirement to Hendrick

Dale Jr. had a glorious NASCAR Cup Series career. During his decades-long time in the high-octane sport, Junior amassed two consecutive Xfinity Series championships (1998 and 1999), 24 NXS wins, and 26 Cup Series victories. He even has two Daytona 500 wins in his arsenal.

However, over a dozen collisions in his career birthed concussions and injuries. While the injuries got healed with time concussions didn't, forcing him to retire after the 2017 season.

Nearly a year after retiring, Junior recalled sitting with Rick Hendrick inside the latter's bus to discuss his future. He said his Hendrick Motorsports boss wanted to renew the contract before the media started questioning.

But that wasn't what Dale Jr. had in mind and he tried to convey he didn't want to continue.

"Rick's like, 'I need to start about what we're going to do, I want to renew the contract before the media starts asking questions about it.' And I was like, 'You know what Rick, I'm going to think about it, I'm not sure if I want to keep driving. I don't know whether I want to race or not, I'm not having fun, and I just go on and on and on about the frustration," Dale Jr. said via Graham Bensinger (0:44).

But he couldn't express it clearly. Instead, he was "animated and loud," which was reminded by Rick Hendrick.

"I don't remember yelling about all this, but Rick, in his interview for our book recalls me being very animated and loud. So, I didn't give him an answer and I hadn't had my mind made up about what I was going to do and I left. I mean, I just went in there, pretty much just unloaded all my anxiety and frustrations and walked out."

It's worth mentioning that Dale Jr. tried to suppress the symptoms due to the racing tradition of not expressing vulnerability but things began taking a toll on his body, forcing him to retire from NASCAR.

"My symptoms got too severe": Dale Jr. revealed how concussions forced him to retire

Dale Jr. has succumbed to countless wrecks, each contributing to forcing the legendary driver to retire from the sport, where his father, Dale Sr. has raked in seven championships.

One among them is the 1998 Xfinity Daytona 300 race when Dale Jr.'s car's nose slammed hard on the track, and his helmet dented the steel roll cage. A week after the wreck, the legend suffered from vestibular system damage as he suddenly felt the stationery things moving. Nonetheless, he continued his career for nearly two decades after the miserable weekend.

But suppressing concussions proved detrimental, as it bounced back with much greater effect. Dale Jr. revealed in his opinion piece that between 2012 and 2016, he often felt disoriented after a race and that his mind felt 'swishy' and laggy.

Thus, he was forced to retire as the symptoms became too severe to keep up the 'charade.'

"During my two decades behind the wheel as a full-time Nascar driver, I suffered more than a dozen concussions. For a long time, I managed to keep most of them a secret, but then my symptoms got too severe to keep up the charade and I was forced to get help," Junior wrote via NY Times.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired as the 15-time NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award winner, the most after Bill Elliott's 16.