An update on Dale Earnhardt: “A “migraine-like event” probably caused Dale Earnhardt to fall asleep at the wheel of his race car last weekend, a doctor who performed tests on the driver said Thursday. Dr. Charles Branch of the neurosurgery department at Bowman Gray Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., notified NASCAR that he has cleared the seven-time Winston Cup champion to race this weekend. “The episode last weekend in all likelihood was a peculiar form of a migraine-like event that caused a brief period of altered mental function,” Branch said. He said the incident also could be the result of a small bruise on the brain from an earlier incident. In last Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington, S.C., Earnhardt twice fell asleep at the wheel while waiting for the race to start. He then wrecked on the first lap and had trouble finding his way back to pit road. Branch’s clearance came after Earnhardt underwent four days of testing at two hospitals. The results were reviewed by specialists at two other hospitals, then sent to the circuit’s headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla.” From Tribune Online-AP (9-4-97)
