Earnhardt ready to get back in driver’s seat

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is expected back on the track next weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

Team owner Rick Hendrick said Sunday that NASCAR’s most popular driver has been headache-free for more than a week, and that tests by a specialist in Pittsburgh showed no lingering issues from two concussions that Earnhardt sustained in a six-week span.

Earnhardt will get back into a car today and, if everything goes well, could be cleared to drive by neurosurgeon Dr. Jerry Petty on Tuesday.

“Everything’s great,” Hendrick said before Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway. “He feels good. He’s done everything they told him to do. He didn’t have any more headaches after, I guess it was Thursday or Friday of Charlotte week, so everything’s good.”

Earnhardt was first injured in a crash during a tire test Aug. 29 at Kansas, but didn’t seek treatment for the mild concussion. He was part of a 25-car pileup on Oct. 7 at Talladega and sought treatment from a doctor who ultimately benched him for two races.

Earnhardt’s doctor said he would not be cleared to race until he’d gone at least four days headache-free, passed some tests and got behind the wheel.