He’s betting he’ll do it once more in 2017 and beyond.
Advertisement
Today, Hendrick Motorsports announced that driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be out for the rest of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.
Earnhardt says he has been so focused on his recovery that he hasn’t considered the broader issues of his future in the sport or possible retirement, as has been suggested in some quarters.
“My heart is there to continue and if my doctor says I’m able, I’m physically able to that, it’s an easier decision for me to make”, Earnhardt said.
And as Earnhardt sits out the remainder of the 2016 to recover from another concussion, Dr. Micky Collins, executive director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Sports Medicine Concussion Program, has assured him again of the same result. “I’m very excited about that prospect”.
It has been a whirlwind summer for Gordon, 45, who was settling into post-Sprint Cup life after retiring at the end of 2015.
Gordon said the team has not let the potential of Earnhardt never returning to impact its week-to-week preparation.
Both Hendrick and Earnhardt mentioned there is a lot of time between now and the Daytona 500 in February.
Earnhardt has pointed to an accident at MI in June as triggering his symptoms that led him to step out of his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. “That we would work on getting better and it would happen in a relatively short period of time and I would drive a vehicle before the end of the season. The anxiety and nervousness of the whole process drives all that, makes it much more than it really is, that’s why I feel awesome at home”. “I feel like I’m still an asset to the team and to the company”, Earnhardt said.
The 10-race Chase for the Championship starts September 18 at Chicagoland Speedway.
With no on-track activity occurring on Friday at Darlington Raceway, the site of this weekend’s Southern 500, due to the impending hurricane, the biggest news came from outside the race track. But like Richard Petty’s ongoing 80th birthday celebration and the throwback schemes, Earnhardt, Jr.’s sheer presence was a reminder that the world of stock vehicle racing keeps turning. I certainly feel the same way. (Collins) says do that more, push yourself (outside the home) and you’ll see those symptoms start to fade in those environments that are upsetting you. You were going to climb in that race vehicle and if you could, you were going to drive it. “I’m very confident we are moving in the right direction”.
Earnhardt’s confidence also comes from the treatment after a crash in California four years ago left him concussed. When asked if he has given such consideration, Earnhardt said he intends to resume racing if he is medically cleared and his doctors approve him doing so.
Advertisement
“Jeff and Alex will give us a great opportunity over the rest of the season”, Hendrick said. “We know that the way to recovery is to put your best foot forward, to have positive thoughts and to have fast race cars”. “I can see how taking the pressure off the team, the pressure off him, the pressure off the sponsors and let’s just have a plan”.
