The day your favorite driver retires will always be a sad one. Many fans felt this sadness when Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced his retirement back in 2017. Just over a day ago, he brought all the excitement once again when he revealed that his wife, Amy, urged him to come back to the Cup Series. But the hype came down as fast as it’d gone up, as Junior clarified that he won’t be returning. After this, a post on X suggests Dale Jr. is not the only retired driver who does not want to come back.

Mark Martin’s scary dream

Kenny Wallace mentioned recently in his segment, “Coffee With Kenny,” that he wouldn’t mind Dale Jr.’s return to the Cup Series. Unfortunately for Kenny, Dale Jr. does not feel this same way. The retired driver replied and said he loves Kenny and misses him, but “I am NOT running any more Cup Races.”

Dale Jr’s insistence on not returning to the Cup Series spoke to retired driver Mark Martin. The Hall of Famer confessed to what he considered a scary dream he had last night.

“I just dreamed last night I was trying to qualify in Charlotte. Scared the (poop emoji) outta me,” said Martin.

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Martin created a legacy for himself that is very hard to top. The driver is described as the “greatest driver to never win a championship.” He finished second in the championships for five years in his career and retired with 96 wins across NASCAR’s three national series, earning the title of one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.

Unfortunately for any Dale Jr. fans or Martin fans, the talented drivers have made it clear they will not be returning. Despite the phenomenal runs they had in their careers, returning to the Cup Series is not on their 2026 bingo card, regardless of whether their spouses want them to.

Dale Jr. clears wife’s name

Amidst the rumors of his, now denied, return to the Cup Series, Dale Jr. came forward to clear his wife’s name of involvement in his retirement. The driver hasn’t raced in a Cup Series for almost a decade. Although he sometimes participates in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series with JR Motorsports, his return to the Cup is a hard no.

When he originally announced his retirement, many fans put the blame on his wife, Amy, since the couple had just gotten married a couple of months before. Dale Jr. spoke out against this wrongful blame.

“I won’t be racing Cup, but she’s not the reason,” said Dale Jr.

The retirement was all due to concerns regarding the driver’s concussions. Dale Jr. had to miss the second half of the 2016 season because of health concerns from all of the head injuries he had throughout the years. He fought hard to return in 2017, but the results were not there.

The couple got married on New Year’s Eve in 2016, just months before he announced his official retirement. This caused all the speculation to be around Amy and her desire for him not to race, which was not the case. After all these years, the speculation can be put to rest. Neither Mark Martin nor Dale Earnhart jr. will be returning to the Cup Series.