Earnhardt leaves symptoms behind

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

MARTINSVILLE, VA.

Sprint Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a lot of time to think while he sat out two weeks with a concussion, and he realized something.

“I don’t care how tough you are, when your mind is not working the way it’s supposed to, it scares the (stuff) out of you,” he told reporters at Martinsville Speedway, where he will compete today in the Tums Fast Relief 500.

“You’re not going to think about trophies. You’re not going to think about your job. You’re going to think about, ‘How can I get my brain to working the way it was before?’ That’s going to jump to the top of the list for you.”

Earnhardt reported concussion symptoms after a race in Talladega, Ala., on Oct. 7, and he sat out the next two races.

It was an unusual move in the tough world of stock-car racing, but NASCAR, his team and competitors supported the decision.

Still, it cost Earnhardt the slim chance he had at winning the Sprint Cup championship.

Earnhardt sits 12th in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings going into today’s race, where he will race not only in a new, more protective helmet, but also as one of the favorites.

He was third in the Martinsville spring race, second in the spring race in 2011, and has a 100.1 driver rating here, which makes the .525-mile oval his best track.

Friday, he was second best in practice, but qualified 20th in his No. 88 Chevrolet.

“I feel like I’ve been out of the car for a year,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like it’s been a couple of weeks.”

Earnhardt said he followed doctor’s orders strictly. But it tested him more than he thought.

“The first 48 hours, they told me not to do anything,” he said. “I slept a lot. No TV. Just standing, walking around the house doing nothing. It was really weird. I went back to the doctor and I told him that I couldn’t do that any more, told him I needed to watch TV or play video games, do something for entertainment.”

It turned out to be exercise that broke the boredom. Physical therapy was part of Earnhardt’s treatment at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he met with concussion experts.

“I went to Pittsburgh a mess,” Earnhardt said. “I was mentally a mess. The doctors up there, we talked for the whole day and went through these exercises and did a lot of stuff, and in 12 hours, I felt really good. I felt completely different. I couldn’t believe it. It’s been pretty normal the last 15 days or so, have felt a lot better. Everything about my life is back to normal except the driving part. I just haven’t been able to do my job. I’m glad to be doing this.”