Dale Earnhardt Jr. endorses Alex Bowman as his replacement

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s retirement following this season will leave a huge void not only in NASCAR, but also in the driver's seat of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

While no one will ever fill Earnhardt Jr.'s role as the sport's 14-time most popular driver and merchandising giant, Junior thinks he's got the perfect fit for the No. 88 vacancy — Alex Bowman.

Yes, the same Alex Bowman who piloted the car last year when Junior sat out with concussion issues. Earnhardt Jr. thinks the 24-year-old driver's performance should earn him the position. Speaking on Periscope after Saturday night's Monster Energy All-Star Race, Junior offered his endorsement.

“Alex Bowman in the 88 car next year, is that what you want? That would be pretty awesome," Earnhardt Jr. said, via NBC Sports. "Alex in the 88. That sounds good to me. He earned it last year. He ran real good.”

Bowman posted three top-10 finishes, won a pole and led 200 laps in 10 races in the No 88 last year. He also showed he can take care of a race car, finishing on the lead lap in seven of his 10 starts. He's currently a test driver for Hendrick. Team owner Rick Hendrick, sponsors and others will obviously have a say in who succeeds Earnhardt Jr., but his endorsement doesn't hurt.

As for Earnhardt Jr.'s performance in the All Star race, he's feeling down after finishing 18th out of 20 drivers.

“It’s hard not to get down,” Earnhardt said. “I’ve been racing a long time and it’s hard not to get down. Right after that, it’s hard to keep your chin up, really hard. I’ll get my chin up again in a couple days.