Junior crash may have been hardest to date

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Though Dale Earnhardt Jr's late-race accident last weekend at Dover International Speedway wasn't overly spectacular in appearance, the data from the crash could prove otherwise.

Earnhardt said Friday at Talladega Superspeedway that, though he was unsure of specifics, the crash may have been the worst recorded to date by black box technology.

"I heard some hearsay -- they said that Kyle Petty's (wreck) at Bristol was the hardest they'd ever recorded with the black box, and they said it was more than that," said Earnhardt, Jr. of his accident.

"The wreck didn't look like, didn't feel like it was a hard, hard hit. But when my foot slammed into that brake pedal -- I've never felt pain like that in my life. It was awful."

	Dale Earnhardt Jr. Credit: Autostock

NASCAR research and development director Gary Nelson, who spearheads the study of such accidents and their respective data, said determining the impact of one hit against another is difficult, due to the vast amount of variables involved in each crash.

"To Dale Jr. it probably was the hardest hit of the season," Nelson said. "We're not going to get into specifics about hard hits, because there are so many different complex criteria to use, to judge hits by."

Jerry Nadeau's accident at Richmond International Raceway in May, which sidelined him for the remainder of the season, was rumored to have registered a force of 160 times the force of gravity.

Earnhardt said the slight concussion he suffered last weekend resulted in far fewer aftereffects than he experienced following last season's well-publicized accident in Fontana, Calif., which hampered him for months.

"I had a little bit a concussion and was unconscious for a little bit, but it wasn't as bad as California," Earnhardt said. "I had a gauge to go off of, as far as exactly how bad my concussion was, unfortunately, being that accident."

Earnhardt said it took about 24 hours after the accident before he felt normal again, and that the injuries to his right foot -- "a bunch of torn tendons" -- were quite burdensome and may linger awhile.

"It's hard to explain what it feels like. It's no fun," he said. "Like I say, I blacked out in the car. But my foot hurts bad. After I hit the wall I was still conscious. I put the net down and took my helmet off.

"Then I felt how bad my foot was hurting. It was so much pain, you've got to be unconscious. You're body just shuts off, I don't know. I was just a little dizzy, that was it."

In his career, Earnhardt said there have been six or seven instances where he's hit the wall hard enough to make him dizzy. He's more concerned with the foot, which requires immobilization to fully heal.

VIDEO CLIPS Earnhardt Jr. transported to hospital after a late-race crash Play video

"The biggest problem was the foot getting better," Earnhardt said. "They said it probably wasn't going to get better for a long time, but they've done everything they can to get the swelling to go down so I can walk on it. It's getting better every day."

Despite his injuries, Earnhardt is still a favorite to win the EA Sports 500 Sunday. He has won a record four straight races at the 2.66-mile track.

"You can drive with that type of injury, that's no problem at all," he said. "It just sucked real bad to not be able to walk for a couple days. It's more painful, I think, to walk on the crutches than it is to walk on the foot.

"So I just laid around a couple days, iced it 24 hours a day. I got to where I could hobbled over to the shop, and now I feel pretty good. It's kind of a non-issue.

"I feel real confident coming in that we can get five in a row."