#88- Dale Earnhardt Jr. met with renowned concussion specialists at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s sports medicine concussion program Tuesday. Earnhardt was not given medical clearance to participate in this past Saturday’s Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway or this week’s race at Kansas after suffering multiple concussions over the past six weeks. He was accompanied to Pittsburgh by NASCAR primary physician Dr. Jerry Petty as a part of the original rehabilitation plan that was put in place last week. Earnhardt met with Dr. Michael Collins, the executive director of the concussion program that helped developed the ImPACT baseline test used in the IndyCar series and other contact sports.(ESPN)(10-16-2012)
UPDATE: Kelley Earnhardt Miller posted an update about Earnhardt, Jr. on the JR Nation website: ‘Dale has been following the doctor’s orders to rest up. The doctor did relax his orders a little last week and allowed him to watch some television and play a little video games. He’s not suppose to ‘stress’ his brain, LOL. We spent the day Tuesday in Pittsburgh at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center with a great team of doctors led by Mickey Collins. Dale spent most of the day doing different therapies and exercises. We got back yesterday afternoon and Dale has some different therapies to do at home as he consults with the doctors each day. If all goes according to plan, and he continues to improve to 100%, he will test a race car early next week to be cleared for Martinsville. This has definitely been an eye opening experience and one that I hope we don ‘t revisit in his career.’(JR Nation)(10-17-2012)
