DOVER, DE - JUNE 03: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, stands in the garage area during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway on June 3, 2017 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Dale Jr. is already having a really hard time with retirement


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Dale Earnhardt Jr. is only a couple weeks into his retirement and he's not sure what to think of his post-racing career.

Earnhardt was in Las Vegas for the NASCAR awards, and he was interviewed by the Las Vegas Review Journal about how he feels about putting racing behind him.

"Being finished with the season and knowing you're not going back to start another one is a weird feeling," Earnhardt said. "Just being home for Thanksgiving is a very odd feeling, and not a comfortable feeling at all.

"I'm always going to want to be at the track and I'm always going to be around the sport and involved in the competition somehow, someway. If I ever thought I was going to just quit cold turkey, I must've been kidding myself.

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Related: Dale Jr. gives such a touching speech it makes Martin Truex Jr. cry

Earnhardt will now transition into his role as an analyst, so he won't be too far away from the sport

"Just being away for a couple of days, it's difficult," he said. "No regrets, no second thoughts. But I like that we're back around it. I don't know if y'all are ready for that, but I was kind of looking forward to seeing familiar faces today, so it's kind of nice."

Even though he's retiring, Earnhardt won't be a stranger to the sport. It might be a difficult transition for him not to race next year, but serving as an analyst for NBC Sports and covering races should help him move into his second career.

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Earnhardt has been around NASCAR for basically his entire life, and he's been racing for over two decades. NASCAR will miss him as much as he misses the sport, but it's a good thing he'll still be close to the sport as an analyst.