SPARTA, Ky. _ With Dale Earnhardt Jr. retiring as a full-time driver after the 2017 NASCAR season, a huge fan base will soon, effectively, enter free agency.
You can bet other NASCAR drivers have ideas on how to win Dale Jr. fans over to their cause.
"If I was running first and he was running second, I could let him win," Ricky Stenhouse Jr. joked. "That would probably get a lot of his fans for next year."
Stenhouse Jr. added a win in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona last weekend to his earlier victory this season at Talladega. He was slated to start Saturday night's Quaker State 400 Presented By Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway in the 18th position.
A vital challenge for NASCAR going forward, Stenhouse Jr. said, is to keep Earnhardt Jr. fans engaged with racing.
"There is definitely going to be a void there with him not racing," Stenhouse Jr. said. "The way I look at it, I doubt there is going to be any one person who is going to take all those fans. I think it is important for us to keep them (as) fans of the sport, engaged with what we are doing."
Stenhouse Jr. figures his wins at Talladega and Daytona, tracks synonymous with Earnhardt Jr. and his family, should boost his bid to woo Junior Nation.
"(Earnhardt Jr.) gained a lot of his fans at those two racetracks," Stenhouse Jr. said. "I figure winning there can't hurt."
