Rick Hendrick earned the tip in casual conversation along with Jeff Gordon. Call it a desperation pass.
“Exactly what are you performing next week?” he said, attempting to discover a fallback strategy in case Dale Earnhardt Jr. is unable to drive for a second consecutive week as a result of continued concussion-adore symptoms.
“He said he’d be in Indy for one of the appearances he has actually to make,” Hendrick said. “I said, ‘Well, delivering your driver’s uniform merely in case.’ He said, ‘Are you kidding?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m serious.’ So if Dale can’t go after that Jeff is all set to step in.”
And so there you go. The perfect storm of good and inadequate for the Hendrick Motorsports team.
The good: Gordon, a four-time Mug season champ that retired at the end of the 2015 season, is all set to step in must Earnhardt be unavailable for the 400-mile race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The bad: Earnhardt is still hung up physically, not only placing his possibilities of qualifying for the Hunt in peril yet additionally raising questions regarding his long term future.
Things are understandably a bit fuzzy. Earnhardt did not race Sunday at Brand-new Hampshire after suffering balance troubles and nausea. Presumably, he is still feeling the sting of crashes in Michigan and Daytona.
But there’s additionally concern that this is becoming a recurring issue since Earnhardt did not drive in two races in 2012 as a result of concussion-related symptoms as well. The encouraging news is that a test that measures cognitive function showed optimistic results, yet the game strategy is still TBA for Earnhardt and Hendrick Motorsports.
“I take my healthiness and quality of life as a top priority. … I am going to take this sluggish and strictly take the suggestions of my doctors,” Earnhardt said throughout his weekly race recap podcast, “The Dale Jr. Download.”
It was be the epitome of mixed emotions for Gordon to grab spine in a Hendrick car. That was Gordon’s only group in his NASCAR Mug job that spanned 23 full-time seasons. And he still has actually a business stake in the Hendrick team.
It would certainly be an basic fit, under the most difficult conditions.
“I believe Jeff will certainly do well,” said group owner Hendrick. “He’s won that race a great deal of times. I expect if he gets in the car, he may be a little bit rusty. yet we’ve got a great deal of method time and I don’t believe it’ll take Gordon long to grab spine in the groove.”
Gordon will certainly have actually a couple of days to grab over some jet lag if indeed he does drive in Indy. He was taking a trip spine from Europe on Tuesday.
But that’s not the pressing bodily concern at Hendrick Motorsports these days.
“He desires to race for a long time, so we are going to allow the doctors make those decisions,” Hendrick said of Earnhardt. “It’s truly hard at very first then the much more you think of it it’s the right thing to do for him or her and it’s the right thing to do for the group and everyone else. He desires to grab spine and we want him or her back. We will certainly merely take it day by day.”
Mixed viewing numbers
Facts don’t lie, so the saying goes, yet the numbers game involving NASCAR racing and fan engagement can easily be viewed through optimistic and pessimistic prisms.
“Debbie Downer” says that ratings are down for most races, including last weekend’s race at Brand-new Hampshire that included a 13% dip from last year (2.3 rating) and down 23% from 2014 on TNT (2.6).
“Oliver Optimistic” says not so fast. Through the Kentucky race the previous weekend, TV ratings are up double digits in severe markets, including Brand-new York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore and West Palm Beach.
And much more to the point of engaging supporters on various platforms, NASCAR rolled some impressive bumps in terms of interaction.
Engagement along with content on the NASCAR social platforms is up 83% year over year, along with much more compared to 114 million total engagements.
The NASCAR Facebook and Twitter accounts have actually generated much more compared to 2.3 billion impressions to date this year.
There have actually been much more compared to 76 million video views on the NASCAR Facebook and Twitter accounts, much more compared to 5 times as numerous as last year.
Matt Kenseth gets popped
A vehicle failing post-race inspection is sort of a little dirty asterisk alongside a driver, yet nothing noteworthy. Winner Matt Kenseth’s Toyota failed the postrace technical-measurements inspection at Brand-new Hampshire. Penalties have actually yet to be announced, yet don’t expect any type of news that will certainly rock the NASCAR Nation.
Perhaps it must be, said NBC Sports analyst and former Mug champ Dale Jarrett:
“This is the 3rd time this [infraction] has actually been found this year,” Jarrett said. “Kyle Larson and Kasey Kahne have actually already been through this. Maybe this is the time to up the penalty a little bit to grab people’s attention. If this is something race groups are performing to make their cars better, compared to they are obtaining a slight advantage.”
This was the very first time a race winner has actually been cited for a postrace infraction because 2013.
John Wes Townley is out
John Wes Townley will certainly not have the ability to compete in the Camping Globe Truck Collection race Wednesday at Eldora Speedway since he remains under treatment for a feasible concussion. ARCA competitor Brady Boswell will certainly step in and take Townley’s ride in the No. 05 Zaxby’s/Jive Communications Chevrolet. On Friday night, veteran driver and NASCAR on NBC analyst Parker Kligerman will certainly sub for Townley in the ARCA Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200.
Townley is scheduled to be reevaluated by his physician July 25 and will certainly necessity medical clearance prior to returning to competition.