"That wreck made it easier": When Dale Earnhardt Jr. singled out the incident which fast-tracked his concussion woes 

In 2017, Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced that he'd be retiring as a full-time NASCAR driver. A large factor behind the decision to bring curtains to his career was down to his concussion problems. In 2016, Earnhardt was sidelined for nearly the entire second half of the season because of severe symptoms of concussion injuries.

During an interview in 2018 with Graham Bensinger, the former Hendrick Motorsports driver opened up in detail about his recurring health issue as a racecar driver.

Earnhardt Jr. claimed that a person's brain is like a computer, in which they don't have faith for it to heal like a broken bone would. He mentioned how in the past if drivers would get head injuries, it was obvious that it affected them permanently. Junior opened up on how these injuries shift the perception of drivers as he said:

"When you don’t run a good race, are they gonna go, ‘Hmm, I wonder if he’s just not the same anymore?’ You know? I’ve heard that talk about other drivers. Even guys that don’t have any history of concussions, I’ve heard people say, ‘You know he did have a lot of hard wrecks.'"

As per Earnhardt Jr., his wreck at Kansas in 2012, during a test, was the one that made him more prone to concussions in the future. He recalled that moments before he made the impact, he was anticipating the intensity, which happened at 190mph.

While his head didn't go anywhere, Junior claimed everything inside of his head went into 'high speed movement' as his brain hit the inside of his skull with 'an incredible force.'

"There’s not any situation that I can think of that would result in a harder impact in racing. And if it doesn’t happen to me, I probably don’t cut my career short. I’m probably still driving race cars today. But that wreck made it easier, I think, for me to get concussions beyond that instance," Junior added.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed how he told Rick Hendrick about wanting to retire

While in conversation with Graham Bensinger, Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed how he broke the decision of wanting to retire to Rick Hendrick. He recalled that Hendrick was keen on renewing his contract.

This was before he went to seek medical help and was just feeling the concussion symptoms.

"I was like, 'You know Rick I've been thinking about it. I'm not sure I want to keep driving. I don't know whether I want to race or not. I'm not having any fun,' and I just go on and on and on about frustrations," Junior described.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. remarked that he doesn't remember being animated or yelling about this conversation with Rick Hendrick. He said that while he didn't give Hendrick 'an answer', in his mind, he had made up what he was going to do.