Friday: From Martinsville
Nappy, sporting the 1980s-era Winston Cup jacket, is prepared to lead our coverage this weekend.
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Quote from Earnhardt: “I can understand people’s opinions that they would try to push through it, or they would ignore it to stay in the car, because I did the same thing in the past. Some concussions are kind of light, and the symptoms are real like. If you don’t have another incident, you feel like you can get through it.
“Some concussions are really bad. And I don’t care how tough you think you are, if your mind is not working the way it’s supposed to, it scares the [bleep] out of you. You are not going to think about race cars. You aren’t going to think about trophies. You are not going to think about your job. You’re going to be thinking about what do I got to do to get my brain working the way it was before. That’s going to jump right to the top of the priority list, I promise you.”
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Earnhardt answered questions for a little more than 20 minutes and was very candid about his experience the past two weeks. He said the concussion “scared the [bleep] out of him” and he’s glad that he took the time off he did to get rid of the symptoms.
He compared the sensation of a concussion to a computer that has too many background programs running — thoughts get hung up, programs quit in midstream. Said the first 48 hours he was told by doctors to do nothing, and that’s what he did and it drove him crazy. Said a visit to specialists in Pittsburgh was the turning point. They explained the process to him and put him through some exercises that had him feeling better by the end of that day.
I know some accuse Earnhardt of coasting on his name, but to me his comments did a pretty good job of hammering home his passion for this sport.
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Interesting note from Johnson, who said at 8 years old he started a bike race with a cast on his leg just so he could run one lap and get the points he needed to win the championship. Obviously not apples-to-apples with Earnhardt, who isn’t in contention, but speaks to the competitive nature that runs through those who race.
Johnson also said that Martinsville is “about as good as you can get” if coming back from injury. Said a place like Bristol or a road course would be the worst.
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Packed media center here — standing room only. People might not be watching this sport as much as they used to, but it sure is getting covered.
Jimmie Johnson will answer questions at 10:50 a.m., followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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No regular briefing today. Early interviews at Martinsville Speedway. I’ll post some highlights as we go.
October 26, 2012 - 7:47 AM
Forget the Dodge Store, have lunch or dinner @ Friths Dixie Pig !!! BBQ place but they have the best hot dogs ever !!!
Small Town by John Mellencamp.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CVLVaBECuc
It’s Martinsville, baby!
I would say not much chance of a race on Sunday or maybe even Monday. Instead I suggest a Martinsville hotdog eating contest. I put my money on Tony Stewart to win.
Elliott Sadler could step up from the Nationwide ranks to clinch that contest. What was his burnt baloney sandwich record a few years ago? Fifteen?
Mmmmm, baloney burgers – those are the bomb!
I have done the Dixie Pig and it is rock solid.
I forgot about Elliott Sadler and the bologna burgers. That would be a tough battle between the two. Now if Humpy Wheeler was still around this idea might get some traction. Actually that wouldn’t be a bad idea for NASCAR now that man was a great promoter.
The question about the Earnhardt deal is probably best boiled down to what Jeff Gordon stated. Would Earnhardt have taken the time off if he hadn’t been essentially written off as a title contender the week prior? If he was tightly in the race, would he have said anything? The general consensus among all the drivers is that virtually NONE of them would have said anything.
Not saying Earnhardt is dogging it, as I think he was actually (probably still is to a lesser degree) hurt. What I’m saying is – Earnhardt has the name to be able to not fear losing his ride. Probably only Stewart, Gordon, & Johnson also have that luxury. No other drivers do. Also, if Earnhardt were only ten points back in the Chase, would he have taken the time off? That’s the stickler.
Here’s hoping he recovers fully in the coming weeks, and suffers no negative results because of these two injuries. Here’s also hoping that NASCAR moves from the mentality where drivers are afraid to reveal injuries for fear of losing their jobs.
For any interested Nascar fans, I just stopped by the Kroger Nascar Fanfest, which is set up this afternoon in the parking lot at the Tanglewood Kroger location. They have some cool racing simulators, plus they are doing a $1 charity raffle for a pair of tickets to Sunday’s race (drawing to be held tonight at 8 pm). Odds of winning are probably pretty decent —- the crowd was thin when I was there at 2:30.
A guy whose mind is not 100% and a really fast car in a crowd of really fast cars sounds life threatening to me. If I was Gordon or any of the others I would put my macho back in my pants and be thankful that Earnhardt (and the people around him) have some brains.
I know they are trained and skilled and all that but at the speeds they drive bad stuff happens pretty quick. Anything less than 100% of brain capacity seems like a good reason not to run.
I lived in Europe a long time and had cars that easily did 160 mph and drove it when it was legal (and even when it was illegal – thank you for that 90 day license suspension some years ago). Although my fellow drivers had done speed training and all that it is astonishing how quick bad becomes tragic. I drove for years in bumper-to-bumper traffic at 120 mph. No matter how good you think you are or how good you really are mental acuity is important on the street let alone racing.
Just sayin’
wow where are the fans? I remember when qualifying would attract around 30,000 people. Looks like 300 on TV !!
Weather looked kind of sketchy coming in this morning, Coxster. That might have been a small factor, though certainly not the only one.
Heard Les Miles was running by the local jail to pick up the team for Saturday. UNC running by the elementary school to pick up their tutors. Thats how you build a program.
Yeah, Les can run by Blacksburg for a placekicker if the need arises.
Go Bayou Bengals!
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Heard Les Miles was running by the local jail to pick up the team for Saturday. UNC running by the elementary school to pick up their tutors. Thats how you build a program.
Comment by Tom L — October 26, 2012 @ 3:24 pm
Les might need to pay the bail to get them out. Might break him tho. How bout the Florida-Georgia game? Nice to see ranked teams play on the tube. Go Dogs!!
Hey, Ron, ROLL TIDE!
Running a few days behind, but these were some good tidbits, Aaron. Good [bleep].