Team owner Hendrick hopeful Earnhardt returns at Brickyard

Jeff Gordon hasn’t been retired from the track very long, and he might already be looking for a way back in; rumor has it that he might step in for Dale Earnhardt Jr.at the Brickyard next weekend in Indianapolis.

The 41-year-old Earnhardt believes crashes June 12 at MI and July 2 at Daytona possibly caused the symptoms, which he initially thought were from severe allergies or a sinus infection.

Hendrick said Gordon was concerned about Earnhardt, but that if needed for Indy, “I think he’s a pretty good backup”. I raced around them, but I’ve never got to actually race with guys like Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, all those guys.

“I’m very hopeful and he’s very hopeful. We want him for a long time”.

Driving the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr., Alex Bowman contended for his first-ever Sprint Cup top-10 before falling victim to a late crash that dropped him to 26th by the end of the event. Bowman had a top-10 run going before hitting the wall with a flat tire, finishing 26th. “We were lining up someone just to check him out for that because that’s where we started”. “So making the right decision (not to race) was out of the question”. We made a lot of progress this weekend.

Jeff Gordon replacing Dale Earnhardt Jr.as driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Sprint Cup auto may not be a one-and-done deal.

“I’m encouraged that he’s going to be fine”, Hendrick said of Earnhardt. I think the doctors want to err on the side of being sure. “Download” released Monday, described what kept him out of the race auto this past weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

As far as the recent injury sustained at Kentucky Speedway, Earnhardt said that he thought at first that he was dealing with bad allergies (something Kentucky is notorious for). “He’s doing good. He wants to be in the vehicle”.

On the long green-flag run that followed, Harvick advanced to fourth again but trouble with the left rear during a stop under caution on Lap 101 sent him back to 11th again for a restart on lap 109. “He’s doing good. He wants to be in the vehicle”.

Earnhardt said the results of his ImPACT test, a 20-minute test that measures memory, reaction time, attention span and other cognitive skills, have matched his baseline, so that is encouraging.

Team owner Rick Hendrick made it clear he doesn’t want a driver to sacrifice his health to stay in the race vehicle.

For the last two seasons in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Alex Bowman has essentially been a onlooker on the track. Hendrick says Gordon will likely remain in the auto should Earnhardt need an extended absence.

Earnhardt is winless this season and 13th in the points standings.

“He’s kind of an iron man”. “They can give me a lot exercises to retrain my brain to handle what I need to handle”. He wants to be in the auto.

He had a tire go down on lap 272 and hit the wall, severely damaging his auto and ending any hopes of ending the race with a good finish and eventually a 26th place.

“When they say, ‘You’re good to go, ‘ he’ll be back”. The four-time champion was on vacation in the south of France when team owner Rick Hendrick called.

Hendrick replied, “No, I’m serious”.

“I asked him what he was doing next week”, Hendrick told reporters, via USA Today. That’s one of the appearances I have to make.’ I said, ‘Well, bring your driver’s uniform’.

“I’m disgusted, to tell you the truth”, Harvick said.