Hendrick Motorsports General Manager Doug Duchardt told media Friday morning that if Dale Earnhardt Jr.is not cleared to return to the auto for next weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon would fill the seat.
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According to Hendrick general manager Doug Duchardt, the team will most likely decide by next Wednesday whether Gordon will be Earnhardt’s replacement at the Brickyard.
“Dale was told that he shouldn’t race”, Duchardt said.
Gordon, now an analyst for Fox Sports, retired last year after 23 years of racing.
NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Jeff Gordon awaits the start of the first practice session for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup auto race at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va., Friday, Oct. 30, 2015.
“He’s a four-time champion and has 93 wins – he’s not a bad person to put in the vehicle, but this week he’s in France”, said Hendrick Racing general manager Doug Duchardt of Gordon. “This week, he’s in France”. Dale and his doctors decided the best thing for him was to get out of the auto.
Those symptoms are keeping Earnhardt out of this week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race in New Hampshire, and XFINITY driver Alex Bowman is starting in his place.
“I wasn’t feeling great the week going into Kentucky (Speedway, for last week’s race) and thought it was possibly severe allergies”. “Because of my symptoms and my history with concussions, and after my recent wrecks at MI and Daytona, I … met with a neurological specialist”. When a driver in NASCAR can’t return his damaged vehicle to the garage, a trip to the care center is required, and under a new three-step process a driver showing any indication of a head injury must go immediately to a hospital. “I know for him, as much as he’s doing the right thing and knows he’s doing the right thing for himself, I know he feels bad and feels he’s letting [crew chief Greg Ives] and the team down”. However, if Earnhardt needs additional time off, his former teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon, will get behind the wheel of Earnhardt’s racecar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race track will be here the next time. “Any speculation past [Indy] is assuming that Dale is not going to be ready for that amount of time”. “We’ll be thinking about contingency plans but we don’t have anything formalized”. “As we gain information on this, we’ll look at the scenario whether it’s long-term or short-term”.
“I think this weekend he is just, per doctor’s orders, laying low like most people in these situations – minimum stimulation and just work to get better and keep activities down”.
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Gordon has run in every Brickyard race since the inaugural event in 1994. Gordon won the last of his record five Brickyard 400 victories in 2014.
