Days removed from publicly announcing his plans to retire at the end of the season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. admitted he’s still not sure what life after racing will look like. But he’s excited to finally be able to talk to those closest to him about his options.

“I couldn’t talk to anybody about what opportunities were out there,” Earnhardt – whose  post-2017 plans were not revealed until this past Tuesday (pictured above) – said at Richmond International Raceway. “I’ve got a lot of things that I’m interested in to see if I’m wanted and see if there’s places for me to be.”

Team owner Rick Hendrick has expressed to Earnhardt he would like to keep him involved at Hendrick Motorsports, where he’s driven since 2008. Already co-owner of an Xfinity Series program, JR Motorsports, Earnhardt isn’t sure what Hendrick would like him to do but says he wants to remain a part of the racing community.

“Whatever he wants me to do, I’m certainly open to sitting down and seeing how I can be useful,” Earnhardt said. “I will say I enjoyed my fun in the (television) booth. If that’s an opportunity for me, I’m certainly going to have those conversations to find out.

“But I haven’t been able to really talk to anybody to even try and sort that out because I couldn’t communicate to anyone, ‘Man, I’m gonna retire, so can we talk about X, Y, and Z?’ You think this is something I could do? But now I can have those conversations with people I really trust.”

Earnhardt has become familiar with the TV booth in recent seasons. In addition to being a guest driver analysts for Xfinity Series races on FOX Sports 1 (pictured), Earnhardt joined the NBC Sports team for two races last year while he missed time because of a concussion. He also called The Clash at Daytona International Speedway in February.

“I want to stay busy – I want to work,” Earnhardt said of his future. “One of the people I really respected a lot was Benny Parsons. I thought he left as important of a mark outside the car as he did inside the car. Whatever mark I can leave, I would love to be able to be as big an asset to the sport as I can be beyond driving.

“It’s up to everyone else how big an asset I was up to this point, but I’d love to still be helpful and do whatever I can to help the sport. I love being around it; I love being a part. I love racing, I love watching racing, and [we’ve] got a lot of things to be excited about. A lot of young talent coming in and they’re going to be fun to watch.”

It remains to be determined which of those talents will replace Earnhardt next season. When asked how much input he’d like to have on that decision, Earnhardt said a lot, but his job is to drive the car and leave decisions like that to those at Hendrick Motorsports who know what’s best for the organization.