Concussion symptoms relenting, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is ready to return to the racetrack.
Earnhardt Jr., who has not raced since July 9 because of challenging post-concussion symptoms, will not race again in 2016 but he plans to be at XFINITY Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup events at Dover International Speedway this weekend.
“My eyes are really, really good,” Earnhardt said on his “The Dale Jr. Download” podcast that is produced by JR Motorsports. “I had some issues with them for a while that were pretty frustrating and those have really gotten better. … Basically, when I get in these environments, the symptoms I have now are balance.”
Jeff Gordon remains at the wheel of Earnhardt Jr.’s Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 car. He will drive at Dover on Sunday and at Martinsville next month, with Alex Bowman assigned the six other races this season.
Earnhardt said he is not symptom-free. When he enters familiar environments, such as the birthday party for his 16-year-old niece last week, there are no issues. He also stood in the fourth row for a Lord Huron concert without incident, and said he went unnoticed by fans.
“We’re almost back to being where I’m a normal functioning person with no issues,” he said. “But to become that guy that I need to be inside the car, we’ve got to really train my senses to be really perfect. I’m going to be doing a lot of stuff that’s really hard for anybody to do to try to continue to improve the balance and my response time and how quick I’m reacting to things and so forth … still working on it and I enjoy the work.”
Earnhardt is familiar with Dover, of course, and its surroundings. But soon his recovery will require testing his ability to function outside of established comfort zones.
“The only thing that triggers the symptoms is going somewhere I’m unfamiliar with, going somewhere I’ve never been, where it is busy, a lot of people talking, a lot of movement, a lot of visual stimulation,” Earnhardt said.
