Retired NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon could be making an unlikely return to the sport.
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“Tuesdays we have our competition meeting and he shows up and he’s just normal Dale”, Duchardt said during a press conference Friday morning at NHMS. His eligibility for one of the 16 positions in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup upon his return, should he be in position to qualify for a spot, would be determined by NASCAR.
According to David Higdon, Chief Communications Officer for the sanctioning body, NASCAR “requires drivers to submit a baseline neurocognitive assessment, such as an impact test … as a prerequisite for being licensed to compete”. Earnhardt Jr. was evaluated this week in Charlotte, N.C., and today was not cleared the to drive in Sunday’s New Hampshire 301.
The medical clause in the 2015 driver-NASCAR agreement obtained by ESPN.com, which drivers had to sign in order to race a year ago, states “I$3 certify that should there be any change in my health status, information or medications that I will inform the Medical Liaison’s Office of such change(s) as soon as practically possible, but in no event longer than five business days of my discovery of such change(s)”.
Earnhardt will sit out Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and there is no timetable on when NASCAR’s most popular driver might return.
Earnhardt is 13th in points and has yet to win this season.
“There’s never been that clarity from NASCAR or from the doctors on what they think is allowed to get back in the race vehicle and what isn’t”, Busch said.
Duchardt, who would not confirm whether Earnhardt has been diagnosed with a concussion, said Gordon, who retired past year and just finished his first stint with Fox Sports in the NASCAR booth, would take over the No. 88.
Duchardt said Earnhart told the team last weekend at Kentucky that he wasn’t feeling well and again on Tuesday that he was feeling worse. “What we need are elite athletes, our stars, to talk about this and advance the conversation and better protect children”. Because brain trauma could impair reaction time and cause brutal wrecks at over 200 miles per hour, Nowinski said, “the risks are more significant than perhaps in other sports”. Obviously I’m hoping Dale feels better, but at the same time, it’s the best opportunity I’ve ever had in my life. When Earnhardt wasn’t cleared to return to competition, the team moved forward with Bowman as the replacement.
“I’m not here to try and be Dale Earnhardt Jr”, Bowman said. Jimmie Johnson was a hair slower at 132.135. He has crashed out of his last two races, finishing 35th at Daytona International Speedway and 32nd last weekend at Kentucky Speedway.
He was the lone Hendrick Motorsports driver in the top five.
In fact, only Chase Elliott had a better lap time among Hendrick Motorsports drivers. Johnson’s March 20th win in Fontana, California, was the last for a Hendrick driver.
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“I think that he would be able to handle it just fine”, Busch said Friday.
