He will continue to drive for Earnhardt at Darlington, Richmond, Dover and Martinsville. I feel I’m still an asset to the team and the company. We got well and I had some of the greatest years and racing experiences of my career shortly after that. “My heart is there to continue and if my doctor says I can continue, that’s an easier decision for me to make”.
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Earnhardt last raced in Kentucky in July, missing the past five races.
Earnhardt, 41, has missed six races due to the concussion, which he has said came during a race at Michigan International Speedway in June.
“I think it’s the right decision considering how I feel”, Earnhardt said.
However: “I don’t belong in a racecar today”, he said.
Earnhardt was joined by Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and Dr. Micky Collins who serves as director of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program.
“We went through this process in 2012”, Earnhardt said Sunday at Darlington Raceway.
Collins said that Earnhardt has worked as hard as any patient he has had.
Earnhardt said he feels his best when he’s on the couch and loses about 20 percent when he leaves the house.
“The second goal is Dale becoming a race vehicle driver again, and I’m very confident that we’re moving in the right direction in that respect”. “So, that would certainly be something that I would insist on happening before we went to Daytona for Speedweeks”.
Paul Newberry is a national writer for The Associated Press. It’s a different set of skills than any of us have.
“But we’ve run so well the last few weeks”.
And what his doctor saw at first with Earnhardt was frankly frightening.
“I miss the people and, as Rick [Hendrick] likes to say, ‘We’ve got unfinished business.’ I’m not ready to stop racing”.
Problems with the vestibular system which allows one to interpret movement and motion and stabilizes one’s vision when the head was moved; interpret complex visual information.
Hendrick said he and his team are planning on Earnhardt’s return in February 2017 and the start of next season.
Earnhardt said it would be almost impossible to go through his current situation if it wasn’t for his fiancée, Amy Reimann. “The stress that he puts on himself for that is very apparent when I sit down and talk to Dale, he wants to race”. “I know this is cliché sitting up here, but Dale has worked as hard as any patient that I treat now or in the past. We’re excited about him getting back in the auto”, Hendrick said. “The seat is his”.
One’s susceptibility to a concussion increases with each one suffered.
Earnhardt’s confidence also comes from the treatment after a crash in California four years ago left him concussed.
Earlier this year, Earnhardt pledged to donate his brain for research. “As a driver, it’s a challenge because all you want to do is get back in the vehicle”. Getting normal and just having a good quality of life going forward for the next many, many years is the first goal.
Gordon enjoyed his role as a NASCAR broadcaster this season, and his quality time with wife Ingrid Vandebosch and children, Ella, 9, and Leo, 6. He has never won a Cup series title.
Gordon now has a bigger job as a fill-in driver for injured Dale Earnhardt Jr.: win tonight’s Southern 500 and lead the Hendrick Motorsports team into the Chase for the Championship.
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“The support from both inside and outside the race team has been overwhelming”.
