Jeff Gordon will drive at Indianapolis if Dale Earnhardt Jr. is unable

If Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not medically cleared to return for next weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon will drive Earnhardt’s No. 88 car, Hendrick Motorsports general manager Doug Duchardt announced Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Gordon retired at the conclusion of last season and served as a television analyst for the Fox Sports portion of the 2016 NASCAR schedule. A decision on Earnhardt’s availability would be determined no later than Wednesday Duchardt said. Earnhardt is sidelined for this weekend’s race at New Hampshire after experiencing concussion-like symptoms for the past two weeks.

There is no timetable on when Earnhardt may return. He missed two races with a concussion in 2012.

Duchardt would not speculate whether Gordon would substitute if Earnhardt were out multiple races, only that the four-time Cup Series champion would drive at Indianapolis if needed. Gordon, who grew up in nearby Pittsboro, Ind., won the Brickyard 400 a record five times, most recently in 2014.

“I think we just want to take it one race at a time,” Duchardt said. “I think putting any speculation past that is assuming that Dale is not going to be ready for that amount of time. We will obviously be thinking about contingency plans, but we don’t have anything formalized for sure past Indy.”

Gordon’s 93 career Cup victories ranks third on the all-time list, trailing Richard Petty (200 wins) and David Pearson (105). Upon announcing he would cease racing fulltime at the end of the 2015 season, Gordon maintained he would race occasionally but said he was likely done competing in NASCAR’s premier division.

Gordon, 44, is an equity partner in Hendrick Motorsports. He has acted in an advisory capacity this season working with rookie Chase Elliott, who took over driving Gordon’s No. 24 car. Gordon is currently on a family vacation in France and unavailable for comment.

“Certainly, he’s a four-time champion with 93 wins, he’s not a bad person to think about to put in the car,” Duchardt said. “... Obviously when Dale is ready, that’s his car to get back into. But if Dale can’t go next week, Jeff Gordon will be the driver at Indianapolis.”

That Earnhardt might need a relief driver at New Hampshire became a possibility on Tuesday when Earnhardt informed Duchardt he was visiting the doctor regarding what he thought was either a sinus infection or allergies. As a contingency, Hendrick Motorsports began preparing to have Alex Bowman standby as a substitute this weekend.

On Wednesday, that Earnhardt could be dealing with a concussion created the scenario where he was unable to race indefinitely. Duchardt would not confirm to reporters Friday if Earnhardt had in fact been diagnosed with a concussion.

NASCAR said Earnhardt has entered its concussion protocol program and would need to receive clearance by a neurologist before returning. Earnhardt said in a statement Thursday he believed the possible concussion stemmed from a pair wrecks he had within a three-race span -- June 12 at Michigan International Speedway and July 2 at Daytona International Speedway.

Bowman drives for Earnhardt’s Xfinity Series team on a part-time basis, but raced Cup fulltime in 2014 and 2015. In 71 career Cup starts, the 23-year-old has a best finish of 13th at Daytona in July 2014.

“(Earnhardt) has been a good friend to me,” Bowman said. “He has been somebody that I can lean on all the time. Obviously, I hate to see him not feeling well. ... I owe him a lot. It’s just been an honor to get the phone call to fill in for him.”