Months after suffering from a concussion so badly it forced him to quit for the rest of the season, the NASCAR star has made an announcement that will have his fans cheering!
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was involved in two crashes this summer that ended up causing some serious issues with balance and cognition for him and was later determined to be the result of a severe concussion. He immediately pulled himself from the upcoming races and sought help from specialists.
Following that, he explored a variety of treatments, sharing bits and pieces on social media along the way. While he was working his hardest at getting back in the driver’s seat, Jeff Gordon emerged from retirement in order to help his friend out and subbed for him during many races of the season.
Admitting that he has zero regrets from sitting out for the last half of the 2016 season, Dale Jr. said that if he had returned to the track at any point this season, it would have some very risky consequences for his entire career.
“I’m glad that I had the opportunity to step away from the car as long as I have (and) put a lot of distance between me and the injury so that I can go into next year confident that I’m healed and healthy,” the racing star tells Brad Gillie of SIRIUSXM Speedway.
He is now moving toward getting off of the medication that had helped him handle some every day tasks throughout his recovery, and adds that he “can do pretty much any physical activity and not have symptoms.”
But the question at the forefront of everyone’s mind is “When will he come back to the track?”
While he’s still suffering from some of the effects of a severe concussion, Dale Jr. revealed that he has, at long last, entered the home stretch of recovery!
“I still have some issues when I go to unfamiliar environments, especially when there’s a lot of people or activity,” said Earnhardt. “But that’s to be expected, and that’s kind of the last final stages of getting well — when you’re feeling that.”
We are thrilled to hear that his recovery is wrapping up and he’s able to get back to doing what he loves!
Watch the video below where they captured the fateful moment when he crashed so hard, it pulled him out of the entire rest of the season.