Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the most popular driver in NASCAR, but the past two weeks he has missed the Sprint Cup races due to issues related to a concussion.
Luckily for fans and race organizers, Earnhardt will return to the track this week for the Chase race at Martinsville Speedway after being cleared by doctors on Tuesday. He had missed the last two races at Charlotte and Kansas with concussion-like symptoms.
According to ESPN.com, "Earnhardt received clearance by neurosurgeon Dr. Jerry Petty after an evaluation at Petty's Charlotte office, which followed a 123-lap test on Monday at Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia with Dr. Petty present."
"Dale Jr. has done everything asked of him,'' Petty said in a team release. "He hasn't had a headache since Oct. 12 and we have not been able to provoke any symptoms since that time. I have informed NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports that he is medically cleared for all NASCAR-related activity.''
Driver Regan Smith took Earnhardt's place for the two races, but did not drive well in the first contest. At Charlotte he finished 38th after dealing with a blown engine and he finished seventh at Kansas this past Sunday.
Earnhardt is technically still alive for the Chase championship, but it is a ridiculous longshot for him to win. After sitting out two races he is now 11th in points, a whopping 122 points behind Brad Keselowski. Earnhardt has still yet to win a championship in his decorated career.
Earnhardt's concussion issues arose after a large crash at Talladega a few weeks ago. The five-time winner at Talladega was caught up in the big crash that wrecked at least 20 cars in the race. It all began when defending NASCAR champ Tony Stewart was trying to block a car from passing him, spinning sideways and causing a 25-car pileup.
At least 10 of the Chase contenders were in the crash and it left Matt Kenseth with a clear field behind him to take the checkered flag. The injury ended Earnhardt's streak of 461 consecutive starts, which according to ESPN is the longest active streak in the Sprint Cup.
Earnhardt was frustrated after the race and took the style of restrictor plate racing to task:
"If this was what we did every week, I wouldn't be doing it," Earnhardt said. "I'll just put it to you that way. If this was how we raced every week, I'd find another job. That's what the package is doing. It's really not racing. It's a little disappointing. It cost a lot of money right there."
It was not the first time Earnhardt suffered a concussion. The first time he suffered one came back in 2002 after a crash in California. Back then though, he hid the concussion so he would be able to continue racing.
This time around, he was open with doctors and his team and while he was away for two races he underwent a variety of tests and treatments at the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program at the University of Pittsburgh.
"This has definitely been an eye opening experience and one that I hope we don't revisit in his career,'' said Dale's sister Kelly Earnhardt Miller in a post on JRNation.com.
According to the Associated Press, Nationwide Series driver Eric McClure also had concussion issues this season, missing six weeks after getting one at Talladega as well.
"There's not really a set timetable for those things and that's been the challenging thing," McClure said after his June return, according to the Associated Press. "That's what kept me from coming back was the lingering symptoms. I really felt a couple of weeks ago, after the first two weeks of being away from the track, and having total brain rest, that I was ready. But (my doctor) felt like we needed to wait, and I respect that opinion."
Head injuries are spoken about and treated differently in this day in age than ever before. NASCAR and other sporting organizations have taken strict precautions when it comes to concussions and one result of that is Earnhardt missing races.
While it was disheartening that Earnhardt had to miss out on a possible championship due to his great season, his long term health should always take precedent.