Retired NASCAR champion Gordon could race for Earnhardt

Alex Bowman will drive in his place. “He’s a four-time champion with 93 wins, ” Doug Duchart, Hendrick Motorsports general manager, said on July 15. Also – Jeff won the first Brickyard 400 in 1994 and he still holds the record for most victories at Indy with 5.

The team has indicated that Gordon, a four-time champion in NASCAR’s premier series, is on call should Earnhardt Jr. not be recovered from concussion-like symptoms. In addition to updating Earnhardt’s current status, they stated that Gordon will sub for Earnhardt if he is unable to race the following week at the Brickyard.

“Hopefully Dale is going to be back next week and it’s not even something we think is going to happen”, Hendrick said.

“Another important element worth noting is the active role our drivers and teams take in monitoring their health”.

“When they say, “You’re good to go” he’ll be back”. “We’ve just got to give him a little bit of time”.

Now, if his former teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt was involved in a 22-car wreck in Daytona this month and also wrecked last month at Michigan International Speedway.

Earnhardt said Thursday in a statement released by the team that he initially thought the ailment to be severe allergies. There is no timetable for his return.

“He and I talked about years beyond next year just around Daytona”, Hendrick said Sunday at New Hampshire. “I’m working with some great doctors to get well”.

Earnhardt, NASCAR’s most popular driver, sat out two races in 2012 after suffering two concussions in a six-week span. This marks the third race he will sit out in his 17-year career.

Earnhardt eventually visited a team of neurologists and underwent concussion testing.

“He thought I was kidding at first”, Hendrick said. It’s kind of like, here I go talking to a guy about trying different honey and he is out of the race vehicle the next week. “He’s not a bad person to think about to get in the vehicle”.

Duchardt declined to speculate whether Gordon would substitute for Earnhardt in additional races, if necessary.

According to David Higdon, Chief Communications Officer for the sanctioning body, NASCAR “requires drivers to submit a baseline neurocognitive assessment, such as an impact test … as a prerequisite for being licensed to compete”. 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.

Earlier this year, Earnhardt pledged his brain to researchers looking into the connection between concussions and traumatic brain injuries.