EARNHARDT JR.’S RETURN TO COMPETITION THE BEST GIFT OF ALL

Ron Lemasters | 12/9/2016

Dale Jr. Darlington Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR News

‘Tis the season to be happy, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. being cleared to race in 2017 was one of the best presents the NASCAR world could hope to find under its collective tree this holiday season.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Dec. 9, 2016) – ‘Tis the season to be happy, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. being cleared to race in 2017 was one of the best presents the NASCAR world could hope to find under its collective tree this holiday season.

The 14-time NASCAR Most Popular Driver had plenty to say Friday during a Hendrick Motorsports teleconference, touching on how he felt in the car, his prospects for preventing further injury once he gets back in the car, and much, much more.

As for his test at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Earnhardt Jr. was pumped that it took place, even more pumped that it went well and relieved that nothing seemed off after his months-long recuperation from a concussion sustained in June at Michigan.

 “Well, the test, I thought, couldn’t have gone any better,” he said right off the bat. “Darlington was a great host and NASCAR was really great to work with to put it together.  I really appreciate them creating opportunities and rules for drivers in this type of situation to be able to get in a car.  It really helps build your confidence to know that everything is working like it’s supposed to work, no matter what your injury is before you go get back into a full race weekend.  It’s nice to be able to kind of get some personal reassurance and confidence.  I was really happy to have the opportunity.”

The test itself was different from the offseason runs teams used to do to prepare for a particular type of track in that there were stops for medical evaluation.

“We got to the race track, the weather was great and we just ran laps,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We put tires on, run 15 laps at a time; take about a 20-minute break, Dr. (Jerry) Petty (Charlotte-area neurosurgeon) was there.  We did a personal evaluation before we got in the car to set a baseline and Dr. Petty was evaluating me after each run to see if everything was good.  A lot of the things that he was checking, visual and balance and so forth, actually strengthened throughout the process.”

With the intensive rehabilitation he underwent in his recovery, Earnhardt Jr. said it all paid off as the test went on.

“You sort of get acclimated and up to speed with what it takes to kind of drive a race car and those systems strengthen through that process,” he said. “Rather than see them sort of flat-line and stay the same, which was what I was hoping for, they actually got stronger.  That was great.  I felt like throughout the day I got more and more comfortable in the car and it felt like an old shoe by the end of the day.

“I was happy with the speed we had,” he continued. “That wasn’t really the ultimate goal, but we had great speed. The car drove really well and we just continued to put tires on it and go out and run 30 laps at a time.  And come in, get out, think about it, talk about it, get checked out and by the end of the day we felt really confident that health-wise I was 100 percent and ready to get back in the car.”

Team owner Rick Hendrick was with Earnhardt Jr. during the conference, and he was asked what it meant to have his veteran driver back in the saddle. 

“We are as big a fan of Dale’s as the rest of the community,” Hendrick said. “When you’ve got the most popular driver in the sport, you lose him and he is a big spark plug to this place.  Having him out of the car kind of deflated the place (HMS).  When that test finished and he came through with such flying colors and just the text I got and the conversation I had you could feel it in the place today when we were with the rest of the team…it just elevated the whole place.  I think Dale being back in a car and Jimmie’s (Johnson) championship, man; it’s going to be a really nice Christmas here for all of us.”

Given all the time he had spent away from his normal routine, Earnhardt Jr. admitted to having a few butterflies when he strapped into the dark gray, unadorned Chevrolet SS at Darlington.

“I have nerves and butterflies every time I get in a race car, but I was certainly very anxious to get in the car,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “As soon as I got my feet on the ground in Darlington, I was in my suit and over there by the door wondering if the car was ready to go.  I couldn’t wait to get in there and just go ahead and get out there and see what it felt like and see what I felt like. I was having a hard time sleeping the night before, but it had been a long, long time since I had drove a car.  It is so rare to have that long of a break.

“The offseason doesn’t seem like it’s that long, plus you do a little bit of testing in the offseason, but it was really odd.  As soon as I got out there after about three laps it came right back to me.  I wasn’t like I sort of had to relearn to do it all over again.  It felt very comfortable.  The speed was there.  Obviously, the track was green and had a ton of grip and that made things a little bit simpler.  At Darlington you run right on the fence and you don’t have a lot of room for error.  That was a good challenge. Of all the tracks we could have gone to Darlington was a good choice to really put me through the test physically and mentally to understand where we are at.  I was a little bit nervous about that.  Darlington is a tough track, but the nerves were gone after about four laps and then it was let’s just run, let’s run some more, put some tires on and go some more.”

Running some more is exactly what Earnhardt Jr. plans to do, and Hendrick is just glad to have him back at that point. It was a long 18 races for all concerned, and that includes the sponsor lineup too. Hendrick was effusive in his praise of the companies that allowed the driver to get right, get healthy and get back into the game.

"First of all we care about him as a friend and a person,” Hendrick said. “That's first.  Just seeing him healthy and himself rather than trying to rush him to get back in the car. I really want to thank all of our sponsors...every single sponsor said his health is priority one.  We don't want him in the car until he is ready, and we are OK.  Everybody was good with him sitting out.  Once we weren't going to be in the Chase, it just didn't make any sense because we wanted him for the long term.”

Hendrick said the decision to take Earnhardt Jr. out of the seat for the remainder of the year was difficult, not because of the health concerns but because of the timing.

“It's a tough decision to pull the plug on a year because we didn't really know if he would be healed up enough to come back with a few races left,” Hendrick said. “We were very fortunate with our sponsors that they put his health first.  That was never a question, just to watch him, and watch him at the test.  I wasn't there, but to just talking to the crew being excited. Everybody is excited. Everybody if fired up. It is a great Christmas present for our company and our fans."