Earnhardt ‘not ready’ to make his return
DOVER, Del. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he is recovering from his concussion and feeling better but is “not ready” to return to racing.
On Saturday, Junior watched his ol’ No. 88 Chevy roll onto pit road and felt a tinge of melancholy knowing Jeff Gordon would slide into the seat for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.
Earnhardt was back at a NASCAR track, yet far removed from a NASCAR comeback.
“It’s hard not to climb in the car before Jeff does,” he said.
Without a ride, Earnhardt instead took a temporary spot as NASCAR’s most popular crew member. He wore a hoodie and a hat instead of a firesuit as he made one of his few public appearances at a track since his season ended in July because of a concussion. Earnhardt posed for selfies with fans and seemed in good spirits watching practice from the pit box at Dover International Speedway.
Earnhardt enjoyed being one of the guys again at Hendrick Motorsports. He assisted with his No. 88 team and took an interest in helping crew chief Greg Ives during Gordon’s practice run on a session interrupted by rain.
Earnhardt, who has been sidelined since July, said he is not sure when he will be cleared to race but hopes to be ready for the 2017 Daytona 500.
Teammates were excited to have Junior back.
“I haven’t seen a lot of Dale away from the race track. I completely understand how difficult it is to come to the track and feel productive,” sixtime champion Jimmie Johnson said. “I can only imagine how hard it is to go to the track and watch your car race and then also how boring it would be because we do have the coolest job to sit in that race car.”
In other motor sports news:
• Rain washed out Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race, setting up a doubleheader at Dover International Speedway on Sunday. The second-tier series race will start at 9 a.m. and the Sprint Cup race will kick off at 1:15 p.m.
• Tyler Reddick crashed the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series playoff party. Reddick held off Brad Keselowski Racing teammate Daniel Hemric at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, leading 70 of 146 laps in winning the second Chase race. The series will be at Talladega next week, with the eight drivers in the Chase looking to fill six spots available in the next round.