Dale Earnhardt Jr. Won't Return For at Least Another Two Weeks

By ESPN

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won't return to the seat of his Hendrick Motorsports car for at least another two weeks as he continues treatment for a concussion he suffered in June.

Earnhardt will be replaced by Alex Bowman this weekend at Michigan International Speedway and Jeff Gordon on Labor Day weekend at Darlington Raceway.

"We know how hard Dale is working to get back," team owner Rick Hendrick said in a statement Wednesday. "He's following what the doctors are saying, to the letter, and doing exactly what he needs to do. Everyone wants to see him in a race car, but his health is first and foremost. We're behind him."

Earnhardt, 41, has said his biggest issue is his gaze stability -- the ability to focus on an object at a distance while moving his head and not feeling off-balance or nauseated. Part of his rehab includes walking backward while moving his head in a dark room with disco lights, various basketball-type drills and an online 3D program that forces his eyes to work together.

"I don't know how long it's going to take," Earnhardt said Aug. 5. "As impatient as I am, I worry about everyone else's patience as well. But I'm not going to go in the car until the doctors clear me.

"The doctors won't let me race. This is not my decision, but it's the right decision and I trust what my doctors are telling me. When they say I'm good to go I believe them. If they say I'm healthy and I can race I'm going to race."

Earnhardt's doctors believe he suffered a concussion June 12 at Michigan but didn't start feeling the effects until four weeks later. He is being treated by doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program. He visited them Wednesday.