Dale Jr.: ‘I definitely don’t belong in a race car’

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has been dealing with concussion symptoms for more than two months, has not been cleared to race by doctors and will miss the rest of the NASCAR season, Hendrick Motorsports announced Friday.

For the last six races, Alex Bowman and Jeff Gordon have substituted in driving the No. 88.

Team owner Rick Hendrick said he expected his driver to be back in the No. 88 for 2017 Speedweeks at Daytona.

He said his doctors are “seeing good progress in my test results, and I’m feeling that progress physically”.

“The only thing I can’t do is get in a vehicle and race”, said Earnhardt Jr.

– Stress. “I feel very strongly the right decision was made to take Dale out of racing, so we can focus on getting him better and reduce the stress that is associated with that”, Collins said. Jeff is one of the best of all time and knows our system.

“If NASCAR doesn’t have the protocol it does now, I’m not so sure Dale Jr. wouldn’t be in the vehicle now”. I had raced my whole Truck and Busch (now XFINITY) Series at the time, in cars that I think my Busch auto had won like one or two races in seven or eight years. If this impact caused this degree of injury, what will the next one bring?

“I definitely don’t belong in a race auto today, by any stretch of the imagination”, Earnhardt Jr., said.

Earnhardt will address the media Sunday afternoon at Darlington Raceway, where he was scheduled to pilot a throwback scheme honoring Buddy Baker’s “Gray Ghost”.

The driver, voted NASCAR’s most popular for 13 straight years, has shown fans some of his rehabilitation exercises through Instagram videos.

“Dale wants to race, but we felt very strongly it was the right decision to not return”, said Collins.

Earnhardt, speaking prior to the Southern 500, said “I definitely don’t belong in a race vehicle today”.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver has been out since July, when it was made known he was experiencing concussion-like symptoms after a wreck at Michigan International Speedway. Earnhardt’s still dealing with concussion-like systems suffered following a wreck in MI back in June. Gordon will race four more times including this week’s Bojangles’ Southern 500; Bowman will take over for the remainder of the season.

“The second goal is Dale becoming a race auto driver again, and I’m very confident that we’re moving in the right direction in that respect”.

Earnhardt, who turns 42 in October, has 26 victories – including two Daytona 500 wins – in 595 career Sprint Cup starts.

Junior will be 42 when he’s back in a race vehicle for the 2017 season, the final year of his current five-year contract with Hendrick Motorsports.

Earnhardt was unlikely to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup, unless he came back next week and won.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. speaks to the media before practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International on August 5, 2016.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Dr. Collins both confirmed that Dale’s mood, anxiety, vision, and balance have all improved since Dale was first diagnosed after the crash earlier this summer. He participated in a Darlington Raceway press conference Sunday with Earnhardt and Rick Hendrick, Earnhardt’s team owner.