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He's back: Dale Earnhardt Jr. medically cleared to drive in 2017
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s return to the Sprint Cup Series in 2017 is all but official.
Hendrick Motorsports announced Thursday that Junior had been medically cleared to compete next season. Junior missed the last half of the 2016 season because of a concussion suffered at Michigan in June.
Junior missed every race after Kentucky — where he initially thought he was suffering sinus issues — and had been dealing with balance and vision problems after the concussion.
He was cleared by doctors following a five-hour test session at Darlington Raceway on Wednesday.
“I feel great, and I’m excited to officially be back,” Earnhardt said in a statement. “I expected things to go really well yesterday, and that’s exactly what happened. Actually getting in a race car was an important final step, and it gives me a ton of confidence going into 2017. Thanks to the staff at Darlington for hosting our team and to NASCAR for giving us the opportunity to put a car on the track. I’ll do more testing in January to help knock the rust off. When it’s time to go to Daytona, I’ll be ready.”
NASCAR granted an exception for Earnhardt Jr. to get in the car at Darlington. Cup teams are typically prevented from testing at tracks on the Cup schedule, though the possibility of an exception seemed likely given Junior’s medical status.
Junior’s first race in 2017 will be the Daytona 500 (and the qualifying races that precede it). The team said Alex Bowman, Junior’s primary substitute driver in 2016, would drive the No. 88 in the season-opening Clash exhibition race. Bowman qualified for the race by winning the pole at Phoenix in 2016’s penultimate race.
“Alex did such a great job in the car this year, and I felt like he deserved another opportunity,” Earnhardt said. “When I spoke with Rick and the team about him driving The Clash, everyone agreed that he more than earned it, and Nationwide was 100-percent on board. I’m really grateful to him and Jeff for what they did for our team, and I’m glad Alex is getting another run with us.”
Junior was voted NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver for a 14th-straight time in 2016 despite his lengthy absence.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
