Dale Earnhardt, Jr. speaks to the media Friday before practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International. Photo by Josh Hedges/Getty Images
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. made it clear on Friday. He doesn’t want to talk about the “R” word, as in retirement.
Earnhardt’s recent struggle with concussion-like symptoms, a malady that will cause him to miss at least five NASCAR Sprint Cup races this season, has fueled speculation that concern over health issues might persuade him to exit the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet permanently.
But Earnhardt had an emphatic reply when that issue was raised in a question-and-answer session with reporters on Friday at Watkins Glen International, host venue for Sunday’s Cheez-It 355.
I have every intention of honoring my current contract (which runs through 2017),” Earnhardt said. “I sat with (team owner) Rick (Hendrick) before this happened a couple of months ago to talk about an extension. That’s the direction that we are going. As soon as I can get healthy and get confident in how I feel and feel like I can drive a car and be great driving it, then I want to drive.
“I want to race. I miss the competition. I miss being here. I miss the people and, as Rick likes to say, ‘We’ve got unfinished business.’ I’m not ready to stop racing. I’m not ready to quit. It’s a slower process, I wish it wasn’t. I don’t know how long it’s going to take.”
Until Earnhardt receives medical clearance, he won’t be allowed to race, and he’s working diligently with his doctors to suppress the symptoms that forced him out of the car for the mid-July Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire and will keep him on the sidelines at least through the Aug. 20 event at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“I’m not going to go in the car until the doctors clear me,” Earnhardt said. “The doctors won’t let me race. This is not my decision, but it’s the right decision, and I trust what my doctors are telling me.
“When they say I’m good to go, I believe them. If they say I’m healthy and I can race, I’m going to race.”
Doctors concluded that the onset of Earnhardt’s concussion-like symptoms, which involve issues with gaze stability, dizziness and balance, began with a wreck at Michigan in mid-June, though Earnhardt said the intensification of the symptoms was gradual.
After he raced at Kentucky Speedway on July 9, Earnhardt sought medical attention, and what he thought might be a sinus infection instead resulted in the diagnosis that forced him out of the car.
Earnhardt receives medical evaluations every two to three weeks and will continue to do so until he is symptom-free. In the meantime, doctors are encouraging him to participate in higher-stress public situations—such as a press conference—to exacerbate the symptoms with an eye toward getting them under control.
“That’s just part of the process,” Earnhardt said. “You don’t want to go anywhere where you’re going to feel worse. And this situation, my doctor tells me, is good therapy to go somewhere that makes you feel worse. Go in there and get exposure and then get out and go somewhere where you can kind of get calmed back down and then repeat the process.
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“And so, I’ve been going and eating and having lunch with my family. I go to (sister) Kelley’s house and get in the living room with her kids. Boy that drives up the symptoms pretty good. But, it’s been great to spend time with them.”
But it’s all with one thing in mind.
“I just want to get better,” Earnhardt said. “Our intentions are to get cleared and get back to racing. We are just taking it one evaluation at a time.
“It’s frustrating to have to do it that way, but that’s the process, and we hope and expect that, when we go back for the next evaluation, we are symptom-free and can start to see a timeline develop.”
Martin Truex, Jr. Signs Two-Year Extension With Furniture Row
With an enhanced sponsor commitment from Bass Pro Shops and Tracker Boats, Martin Truex, Jr. has agreed to a two-year contract extension with Denver, Colorado-based Furniture Row Racing.
Truex qualified for the Chase last year and advanced to the Championship Four at Homestead-Miami Speedway before finishing fourth in the final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings. This year, he collected his fourth career victory, leading a NASCAR-record 588 of 600 miles in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May.
“The last year-and-a-half with this team has been amazing,” Truex said on Friday afternoon at Watkins Glen, where he was second fastest in final Sprint Cup practice. “Just looking forward to continuing that momentum and building upon our success. Final four last year was a big deal for us, and looking forward to hopefully getting back there this year and do it even better.
“Just again continue to build on the success we’ve grown into as a group. I think we’ve got the best team in the garage without a doubt, in my opinion, and just looking forward to keeping that together and hopefully doing bigger and better things as we go forward.”
Bass Pro Shops and Tracker Boats has increased its primary sponsorship commitment on Truex’s No. 78 Toyota from 12 to 16 races for the 2017 season.
Short Strokes
After his No. 47 JTG/Daugherty Racing team repaired a punctured oil line on his Chevrolet, AJ Allmendinger led NASCAR Sprint Cup final practice at Watkins Glen. Even so, the 2014 race winner at the 2.45-mile road course wasn’t satisfied with the performance of his car on the repaved track. “We got it closer,” Allmendinger said. “It’s still not amazing, but it’s got speed in it at least. There are a lot of nuances about this place now that have changed with the new pavement and a real hard tire. Strategy is going to be even more important than usual. It should be interesting on Sunday” …. In Friday time trials, Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski claimed the two front-row starting spots for Saturday’s Zippo 200. Logano claimed the Coors Light Pole Award with a track-record lap at 124.552 mph. Logano is looking to break a NASCAR Xfinity Series drought that dates to last year’s race at Watkins Glen.
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