Earnhardt, who will be 42 on October 10, has a history of concussions, the latest of which has caused him to have vision problems and balance issues. He’s betting he’ll do it once more in 2017 and beyond.
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Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will miss the rest of the 2016 NASCAR season due to lingering symptoms of a concussion. Earnhardt Jr. announced that despite his symptoms and recovery getting better, it was not progressing to the point of returning yet.
From a health standpoint, the time away from the vehicle and out of the limelight will allow Earnhardt to focus exclusively on his continued recovery. I’m 100 percent focused on my recovery, and I will continue to follow everything the doctors tell me.
Dr. Collins, the medical director of the University of Pittsburgh Sports Medicine Concussion Program, is quite familiar with his high-profile patient.
“Seeing his response to treatments has been very positive”.
“I know how hard Dale has worked and how frustrating this is for him”, said Hendrick, who will appear with Earnhardt and Collins in a press conference at Darlington on Sunday prior to the Bojangles’ Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET on NBC). “I’m very excited about that prospect”.
Although independent and cynical as usual, the Sprint Cup’s sometimes hard-bitten media corps has yet to find any scandal or try to create one.
“Jeff and Alex will give us a great opportunity over the rest of the season”, team owner Rick Hendrick said. “Stress and concussion don’t get along well and we see stress can really exacerbate and worsen things”. I am working towards that.
As important as each might be, Earnhardt’s health and well-being continue to be the focus. “I’ve got some good years left. I’m as good as I have ever been inside the auto”, he said. “I enjoy it. I have an awesome team and a great owner”. Bowman is set to compete for the team in the races Gordon will not be competing in.
In addition to Sunday’s race, Gordon will be behind the wheel of the No. 88 for races at Richmond (Sept. 10), Dover (Oct. 2) and Martinsville (Oct. 30).
“It’s a track that I’m comfortable on and that I like”, he said last week.
When he still wasn’t feeling right a few weeks after the MI wreck, Earnhardt took it upon himself to check with Charlotte neurologist Dr.
Earnhardt’s most recent race was July 9 at Kentucky Speedway, where he had an uneventful 13th-place finish. “I’m very confident we are moving in the right direction”.
“I struggled with my eyes for a while and I’m starting to see improvements there”.
Earnhardt, he said, has made great progress.
We know that Earnhardt, at the very least, had two concussions about six weeks apart in 2012, which was the wakeup call that everyone in NASCAR needed to address an issue that had always been swept under the rug.
And what his doctor saw at first with Earnhardt was frankly frightening. Earnhardt has done rehabilitation activities and had hoped that he would be cleared to return to racing this season. He’s spoken with NASCAR, who gave their backing to an individual test to reacquaint himself with racing.
Earnhardt remains the sport’s most popular driver, and to have him walk away would be a huge blow given the reluctance of the fan base to embrace a new generation of stars.
“The seat is his and I expect we’ve got a lot of time between now and Daytona”, Hendrick said. We have races to win.
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“Those were rare moments when you knew as something is occurring that you were part of history”, Gossage said.
