Nascar – Extended absence for Dale Earnhardt Jr

Bad news for American fans' favorite driver Nascar. The Hendrick Motorsports team has confirmed the extension of the absence of Dale Earnhardt Jr., forfeited from the New Hampshire event after the appearance of symptoms related to a concussion.

The son of legend Dale Earnhardt will therefore miss the next two Sprint Cup Series meetings, namely Watkins Glen (New York) this weekend (one of the two road events on the calendar of the major Nascar series), and the Bristol round (Tennessee), on August 20.

A few days ago, Dale Jr gave of his news, indicating in particular that the symptoms experienced could be linked to his accident in Michigan last June. Despite hopes of progress, the usual driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet SS will once again have to give way to the returning Jeff Gordon.

“There is a break in the schedule after Watkins Glen, and the extra week of recovery time will definitely be an advantage, explains Rick Hendrick, owner of the Hendrick Motorsports team. Dale will be back when he's ready, and we can't wait for that to happen, but the priority continues to be his health and well-being. We're going to continue to focus on that and let the doctors guide us. »

For his part, Jeff Gordon will make his 800th career start after making the decision to no longer race full-time at the end of 2015. The driver in traditional rainbow colors finished 13th in Indianapolis and 27th in Pocono (Pennsylvania), last weekend.