MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. and officials with Goody’s announced a new promotion Sunday that will consist of trading cards featuring NASCAR’s most popular driver inside boxes of the pain relief product.
But the Hendrick Motorsports driver believes fans will see him back on the track in the future as well.
“My intentions are to race and that’s the plan that we have going forward so we’re booking things as normal,” Earnhardt said during the morning press conference at Martinsville Speedway. “We’re doing all our photo shoots and everything with the anticipation of our sponsors marketing me as the driver of the (No.) 88 car. I think that that’s perfectly on track and a reasonable goal, to be in the car (and) to be competing at Daytona.
“We can’t sort of sit and wait … those types of things have to be decided quite early. So we’re moving forward with the plan for me to be in the car and I don’t see anything that says that’s not going to happen. Things are good.”
Earnhardt has been sidelined for the latter part of the Sprint Cup Series season due to concussion-like symptoms. He will resume his driving duties no sooner than the start of the 2017 racing season.
Returning to the track to kick off campaigns such as the Goody’s promotion, spending time in the television and radio booths and attending other functions, he said, has been crucial to helping expedite his recovery.
“Obviously I miss being in the car; I want to be in the car,” Earnhardt said. “I’d rather be racing. But until that happens, until I can get back in the car I have to do things to keep myself busy. Sitting at home is not a lot of fun. Those first few weeks trying to get better sitting at home and not really wanting to go anywhere wasn’t any fun at all.
“It’s awesome to be able to drive up here to do this press conference and talk about one of our promotions with Goody’s. To be able to have a chance to go in the booth, things like that are really, really good for me. It’s not only good therapy but I need to be doing something. I love being around the sport and I want to feel like I’m an asset. It’s very helpful.”
In his absence, Hendrick officials have split seat time between three-time series champion Jeff Gordon and youngster Alex Bowman in the No. 88 entry. Gordon is making his final start as a fill-in this weekend at Martinsville.
Earnhardt got high marks from fans and the media for his TV appearance — he spent time in the NBC broadcast booth last week when the series competed at Talladega Superspeedway. He is also a part of the broadcast team at Martinsville.
Easing his way back into the public eye has been different, but the transition appears to have gone smoothly.
“I wasn’t really sure how that was going to feel being around and coming to the track and stuff; I was a little nervous,” he said. “I talk to Rick (Hendrick) and I tell him all the time … being in the car is what I’m supposed to do and not being in the car brings on a sense of guilt that I’m not fulfilling my responsibilities. Maybe I’m actively seeking out these opportunities to be visible and be relevant, work with my partners and handle all the responsibilities that we have and had planned before all this happened.
“So I’ve been open and happy and excited to start booking all these photo shoots; if we want to go somewhere and do something that we’ve never done before — the (Carolina Hurricanes) hockey game, football game, stuff like that, that’s been a real good time.”