There’s no more pushing the pedal to the metal for NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt Jr., the rest of the 2016 racing season due to the lingering effects of a concussion. Gordon replaced Earnhardt Jr. the next four races and Bowman recently drove for the team this past Sunday at MI.
Advertisement
Earnhardt was accompanied by Hendrick owner Rick Hendrick and Dr. Micky Collins, who has treated Earnhardt at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program.
For the remainder of the season, both Gordon and Alex Bowman are expected to split time in Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88, with Gordon taking over this weekend at Darlington Raceway.
Gordon will drive the No. 88 vehicle at Darlington, Richmond, Dover and Martinsville.
Earnhardt has had concussion issues before, and first began experiencing symptoms in late July.
Earnhardt’s symptoms of headaches and nausea, while serious, seem minor to the brain injuries that Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip says he endured during the beginning of the 1983 season. “I’m very confident that we’re moving in the right direction in that respect”.
“I think Dale Earnhardt Jr.is starting to learn about life and what makes a racecar driver tick, and one of the things that works against us is that we are fierce competitors”, he said. NASCAR’s most popular driver is scheduled to miss his third consecutive race Sunday because he suffers from symptoms of a concussion. Like Dr. Micky Collins says, we’ve got to get in that environment and test those systems before we get the final sign-off.
“I saw him (Earnhardt) like two or three weeks ago and then I saw him last Monday and I saw him today, the improvements have been phenomenal”, said Hendrick. Hopefully we can get to a point where we see that he can withstand the normal forces of a race-car driver.
That’s an ominous number for Dallas because it’s how many games Romo missed after he broke his left collarbone the first time last season. “My heart wants me to continue”.
“I’m positive that we’re going to get Dale back to being a race vehicle driver”, Collins said.
But Collins said Earnhardt’s condition is a lot worse this time and deemed him as “pretty sick”. He knows how desperately Earnhardt wanted to return this season.
In addition to two Xfinity Series championships, Earnhardt has won 26 Cup races – including two Daytona 500s. When you watch practice on TV, or the watch the (Sprint Cup) race on Sunday, and he’s not in the race auto, it affects us. “I saw him like two or three weeks ago and then I saw him last Monday and I saw him today, the improvements have been phenomenal and listening to the doctor, we are excited about Dale Earnhardt, Jr. being in the vehicle at Daytona and we’ve got time”.
Advertisement
Earnhardt also co-owns the JR Motorsports team, which races in the Xfinity Series. “I know how hard that is to look out and want to be inside that racecar”, Logano said.
