“My heart is there to continue”, he said. I feel like I’m still an asset to the team and to the company. “I’m in such a great position and am enjoying being a part of the sport”. I’m 100 percent focused on my recovery, and I will continue to follow everything the doctors tell me. The June 12 wreck at Michigan International Speedway didn’t appear so violent that it should cause a concussion. Gordon replaced Earnhardt Jr. the next four races and Bowman recently drove for the team this past Sunday at MI. As has been the case for the past six weeks, four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon and 23-year-old Alex Bowman will continue to serve in a substitute capacity.
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“I think it’s the right decision considering how I feel”, Earnhardt said.
Earnhardt, speaking prior to the Southern 500, said “I definitely don’t belong in a race auto today”.
“So, there is a lot of pressure on you to run well because you know that you are in a vehicle that is capable of winning”.
“The seat is his and I expect we’ve got a lot of time between now and Daytona”, Hendrick said.
NASCAR’s most popular driver has undergone regular evaluations at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program under the direction of Dr. Micky Collins and with Charlotte neurosurgeon Dr.
Jeff Gordon drove the No. 88 Sunday at Darlington, and either he, or Alex Bowman, will drive it for the rest of the year.
Collins spoke in stark terms about Earnhardt’s condition. It wasn’t necessarily a winning auto, and then all of a sudden I got in Sterling’s vehicle that had I think won a couple of races earlier that year and it had led the points (through Darlington), it was a really good vehicle.
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. “I think as we continued to go get evaluated we realize that it is going to be a bit more of a process”.
However, Earnhardt Jr. understands not being able to compete just yet. “He was having problems with the vestibular [sensory] system, with the ocular system and with some anxiety and mood issues that is very much associated with these problems”.
Elliott Sadler, who drives for Earnhardt’s Xfinity program, said he had mixed feelings about his friend’s absence.
“He’s going through vision therapy, he’s going through exercise therapy”, Collins said.
Both Earnhardt and vehicle owner Rick Hendrick expect him to return for Daytona 500 in February.
“He (Earnhardt) is like a member of the family”, Hendrick said.
The 41-year-old driver is preparing to return to the seat in 2017, and his doctor Sunday said the treatment focuses on Earnhardt – whom he said was “pretty sick” – being able to handle everyday life and then a race vehicle. I’ve been concerned. I’ve been surprised how hard he’s worked. Rick likes to say we have unfinished business.
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Collins said he treated Earnhardt in 2012 and some of the findings in regards to the current injury were different and more extensive. He self-diagnosed himself with a concussion, which he revealed weeks later.
