After a tumultuous 2016 season that saw him sit out 18 races because of concussion issues, NASCAR's Dale Earnhardt Jr. is back in the driver's seat and ready to compete in next week's Daytona 500 (set for Sun., Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. CT).
(Earnhardt won't be on the track for Saturday, Feb. 18's opening night of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in the non-points Advance Auto Parts Clash. Alex Bowman will race in the No. 88 for Hendrick's Motorsports, while Earnhardt will be in the television booth and return in the car the following weekend.)
After first getting hit at Darlington last December at the FireKeepers Casino 400, Earnhardt went on to compete in three more races but soon knew that he'd been affected. He later said that he knew of at least four other concussions in his career--maybe more--and took his doctor's advice to sit out the rest of 2016.
The rest of the season was tough on NASCAR's fan favorite, as he continually wondered when he'd be back in the car and also considered retiring.
He often talked about how the concussions affected him as he took the medial protocol seriously; his seriousness, in face, educated many NASCAR fans on the issue.
During the offseason, Earnhardt also married his longtime girlfriend, Amy Reimann, and continued his many off-the-track pursuits.
Now, though, he says he's 100% recovered from his concussion issues of 2017 and has things in the proper perspective.
In a piece published in ESPN the Magazine, he told how the recovery (as well as his marriage) gave him motivation to get back in the race car.
"I always make things worse than they are, or create problems that aren't there," Earnhardt said. "And going and doing some simple task becomes a problem. I start imagining problems that aren't there. What people are going to think, who's going to judge me and am I going to be good enough, am I worthy?"
Will the recovery and newfound attitude result in wins on the track in 2017 for the sport's favorite driver?
Time will tell.
source : http://www.al.com
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