Earnhardt was evaluated in Charlotte, North Carolina, this week and doctors did not clear him to race. In the special case of Stewart, who missed the first eight races of this season with a back injury, NASCAR ruled the same as it did a year ago in the case of Busch – stating that the driver in question could participate in the Chase if he won at least one race and finished in the top 30 in points.
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Junior is now 13th in the points standings and has five top-five finishes and six top-10 finishes. Earnhardt has been experiencing symptoms since taking hard hits at Michigan International Speedway and Daytona International Speedway.
“I wasn’t feeling great the week going into Kentucky (Speedway) and thought it was possibly severe allergies”, Earnhardt said. He took medication for allergies and a sinus infection. When that didn’t help, I chose to dig a little deeper. When that didn’t help, he met with a neurologist. After further evaluation, they felt it was best for me to sit out.
In a Hendrick Motorsports media release, the 41-year-old driver says he had been suffering symptoms even before last Saturday’s race at Kentucky Speedway. “The number-one priority is his health, so we’re going to give him all the time he needs”. While the crash didn’t appear that hard – the right side of the vehicle banged against the wall – it did do enough damage to keep Earnhardt from returning to the race. However, it is quite likely that NASCAR would grant the sport’s most popular driver a waiver to qualify for the Chase, as it did for Kyle Busch last year and Tony Stewart this year.
The immediate impact is that without a win this season, missing the race this weekend will hurt his chances of making the NASCAR Chase.
Concussions and brain injuries are not something to mess around with and Earnhardt’s comments by no means indicate a belief that he will be ready to race next weekend. “In the meantime, we have full confidence in (crew chief) Greg (Ives) and the team, and we know they’ll do a great job”. Hendrick Motorsports has not determined whether Bowman would continue driving in place of Earnhardt if Earnhardt has to miss races beyond this weekend.
Bowman competed full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2014 and 2015 with BK Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing respectively.
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The new is not good on a couple of different levels for Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 team.
