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Earnhardt Jr. to miss rest of the season

“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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“Riding in a vehicle or walking to gain stability is starting to improve, which was a major relief for me because that was probably the most hard thing to deal with because it was there 24 hours a day”.

Earnhardt has attended sponsor functions and performed routine activities of daily life without too many bobbles, although he did say that he feels best when seated on the couch and can see a dropoff when he leaves to drive to the store or walk around a race track.

“I wish I could return to the No. 88 team this season”, Earnhardt said in a release provided by the team (Hendrick Motorsports). His latest problems apparently stem from a crash at Michigan International Speedway June 12 (although he raced after that crash). Gordon was already named as the driver of the No. 88 auto for Darlington after Bowman competed for HMS at MI.

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.

Collins said the decision to have Earnhardt sit out the remaining 12 races was made to alleviate any stress Earnhardt may have been feeling to return and focus exclusively on his recovery.

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.

Dr Collins confirmed that Earnhardt was making progress.

“My goal was to have Dale be a human being again and it is occurring in front of our eyes”.

In the time since, Earnhardt has been very open about his symptoms.

“If NASCAR doesn’t have the protocol it does now, I’m not so sure Dale Jr. wouldn’t be in the auto now”.

So is Hendrick, who anticipates Earnhardt to return next season. “We’re trying to focus on just getting well and getting normal”.

Earnhardt Jr. said he hopes to be well enough to competed at Daytona in February. If you couldn’t then you were gonna at least run a lap then get someone in the auto so you could get the points.

He has qualified for NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup eight times overall and each of the past five seasons.

Earnhardt crew chief Greg Ives said he talked to each of his team members Friday. Still, Earnhardt said his balance has improved greatly and said and he has been able to get out and make some of his sponsorship appearances. He saved the best for fiancée Amy Riemann, speaking with obvious affection of her help in pushing him through his treatment.

“I think I have some good years left”.

“First time all year I have some valuable notes about the package and what the vehicle should be like”, Gordon said.

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“I have a passion and desire to drive and I enjoy it”. I feel I’m still an asset to the team and the company. “And it definitely gives us some incentive to finish on a high note, now that he’s out of the auto”. I certainly feel the same way.

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