Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s teammates excited to see him return to track

Although he won’t be competing, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be in attendance for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race and Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series event at Dover International Speedway, the first time he’ll be at the track for a race since removing himself from the car in early July.

Earnhardt returning to watch a race is an encouraging sign, as he continues to recover from a concussion sustained when he crashed during a June 12 race at Michigan International Speedway. NASCAR’s most popular personality has been at the track twice previously, but each time was on a Friday to conduct a press conference and he left shortly thereafter.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Jimmie Johnson are looking forward to seeing Earnhardt, who’s missed 10 races and will sit out the remainder of the season, at the track this weekend. Jeff Gordon will drive Earnhardt’s No. 88 in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.

“I can only imagine how hard it is to go to the track and watch your car race, and then also how boring it would be because we do have the coolest job to sit in that race car,” Johnson said. “And then just to come to a track and watch, I don’t know if I could do it.

“[It’s] great from a public perception that he’s coming and that people can really see how hard he’s working and then kind of tie that together with his recovery process.”

Watching racing in-person is part of the rehabilitation from Earnhardt’s third concussion in four years, he said Monday on “The Dale Jr. Download” podcast. That includes exposing himself to situations where loud noises could trigger symptoms, such as the grocery store, restaurants, or the race track. He will sit in the pits for both the Xfinity and Sprint Cup races.

“For those guys to see him at the race track and there supporting them, I’m sure it has to mean a lot to those guys,” Elliott said. “... I 100 percent think it would [a boost] for sure.”

While Earnhardt hasn’t been at the track, he has regularly visited Hendrick’s headquarters in Concord, N.C., where he’s met with crew chief Greg Ives and taken part in company-wide competition meetings. Elliott said Earnhardt has also continued to fulfill sponsor obligations.

Earnhardt is targeting being medically cleared in time for the start of the 2017 season, which begins with the Daytona 500 in February.

“I’ve seen a lot of him and I know he’s dying to get back in the race car and eager to feel amazing again,” Johnson said. “I think he’s on a great road of progress right now.”