Jeff Gordon will step away from full-time NASCAR racing after the 2015 season, Hendrick Motorsports announced Thursday morning.

Gordon, 43, will compete in his 23rd and final season and then step out of the No. 24 car he has driven since November 1992. No replacement was named, but speculation will fall heavily on rising star Chase Elliott, a Hendrick development driver who the team has already said will be in Sprint Cup next year.

A four-time series champion, Gordon is tied for third on the all-time wins list with 92 behind only Richard Petty (200) and David Pearson (105).

But his impact on NASCAR goes far beyond the numbers. Gordon’s clean-cut, corporate image and youthful good looks helped stock car racing expand out of the Southeast in the late 1990s and 2000s, taking the sport to new heights and ushering in a wave of drivers who grew up wanting to be like him.

Gordon said he “thought long and hard about my future this past year and during the offseason” before making his decision.

“I won’t use the ‘R-word’ because I plan to stay extremely busy in the years ahead, and there’s always the possibility I’ll compete in selected events, although I currently have no plans to do that,” he said. “I don’t foresee a day when I’ll ever step away from racing.”