Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will miss at least the next two races after being diagnosed with a concussion following a multi-car crash last week at Talladega Superspeedway. Regan Smith will fill in for Earnhardt in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88, while AJ Allmendinger will take over driving duties of the No. 51 for Phoenix Racing, which Smith had been scheduled to drive due to the departure of Kurt Busch.
The news came early Thursday morning, as teams prepare to qualify for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500. Earnhardt had been highly critical of the racing at Talladega after last Sunday’s race, calling it “ridiculous” and “bloodthirsty,” and saying that NASCAR was headed in the wrong direction with its restrictor plate rules. Earnhardt will address the media in a press conference this morning at 11AM at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The press conference will be streamed live on NASCAR.com.
About the author
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.
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