NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. reported Saturday morning this his concussion-like symptoms, while not really improving, have gotten any worse. As he has since he first began missing races at New Hampshire, used Twitter to report on his condition.
“Update: No change lately,” Earnhardt tweeted. “Symptoms have plateaued over the last week. Balance/Gaze/Stabilization are only issues. Docs preaching patience.”
Earnhardt has missed the last three races suffering from concussion-like symptoms. He said this past Monday on his weekly podcast that he has been doing physical and mental exercises for two-and-a-half hours each day, and said he would provide an update next Monday following another doctor’s visit. His comments left his status for the road course race at Watkins Glen next week.
Update: No change lately. Symptoms have plateaued over the last week. Balance/Gaze Stabilization are only issues. Docs preaching patience.
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) July 30, 2016
“I’m going for another evaluation here soon to see what kind of gains we’ve made, get in front of my doctors, let them get a good look at me and let them tell me where they think I’m at,” Earnhardt said Monday.
“And that will help us make the decision on what we’re going to do for Watkins Glen.”
Fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon was called out of retirement to sub for Earnhardt. After Alex Bowman raced for Earnhardt at New Hampshire, Gordon raced the No. 88 Chevy last week at Indy and will race it Sunday at Pocono.
The next stop for the Sprint Cup series is next Sunday on the road course at Watkins Glen. The series has a week off after that race. Gordon said Friday that he is ready to continue in a substitute role if needed.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Gordon said.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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