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Wednesday’s test at Darlington Raceway confirmed what Dale Earnhardt Jr. already suspected — that he has recovered from a concussion suffered at midseason of 2016, and that he is fit and healthy enough to resume competing in NASCAR’s premier series.

While this year’s incident, which caused Earnhardt to miss the final 18 races, was the second time he had been sidelined due to a concussion, Earnhardt made no bones about his eagerness to climb back in the No. 88 Chevrolet when the 2017 season gets underway.

Saying he feels he has “a lot left in the tank,” Earnhardt spoke about his recovery, his return and what lies ahead during a national teleconference Friday.

“I wouldn’t be coming back to the seat and wanting to drive and be excited about driving cars if there was any risk other than the typical risk that every driver faces on Sunday,” the 42-year-old Earnhardt said. “I feel very confident in what I’ve seen in myself in my improvement and what my doctors are telling me about my future and the risk that I’m taking, and my ability to be able to withstand the normal wear and tear of not only driving a race, but getting in that unfortunate accident from time to time.

“We all feel pretty confident that not only am I as healthy as I was before the symptoms came last year but I’m actually stronger. Having gone through this before also gives me additional confidence. This isn’t uncharted territory for me. I know what I need to feel personally to know that I’m as strong as I need to be and healthy. I’m certainly feeling that way. But I’m also hearing the affirmation from my doctors that I can go back and drive race cars.”

Earnhardt worked with Dr. Micky Collins of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program in Pittsburgh throughout his recovery. Charlotte neurosurgeon Dr. Jerry Petty was on hand at Darlington to monitor Earnhardt’s progress.

After a brief pre-test evaluation by Dr. Petty to determine a baseline, Earnhardt said he spent the afternoon running multiple laps around the rugged 1.366-mile track. During frequent breaks he was re-evaluated by Dr. Petty.

While Earnhardt said he hoped to see the results of his responses to the stimuli of being back in a race car remain constant, they actually improved throughout the course of the day.

“You sort of get acclimated and up to speed with what it takes to drive a race car,” Earnhardt said. “Those systems strengthen through that process. Rather than see them sort of flat line and stay the same, which was what I was hoping for, they actually got stronger.

“I felt like throughout the day I got more and more comfortable in the car … it felt like an old shoe by the end of the day.”

Once the session ended, he said, “We felt really, really confident that healthwise I was 100 percent and ready to get back in the car.”

Although the 2017 season won’t officially get underway until Feb. 26 with the running of the Daytona 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Earnhardt said he will also participate in an organizational test scheduled for Jan. 31/Feb. 1 at Phoenix International Raceway.

The focus of that test won’t be to monitor his health, but to simply give him more time behind the wheel and help the team prepare as the new season approaches.

“Testing is kind of boring but I’m ready to get more and more laps in the car,” he said. “I feel real, real confident and my self-confidence is real (crucial) for me to perform well. The more I can do to help build my confidence before we go to Daytona the better so I’m excited.”

Team owner Rick Hendrick said having NASCAR’s most popular driver cleared to return to competition was “a great Christmas present for our company and our fans.”

“By Dale going to the right person and working his butt off, it has made him stronger,” Hendrick said.

While he has been cleared to return to competition, Earnhardt said he will continue with some of the exercises and programs used during the recovery process. According to Dr. Collins, continued participation would only further strengthen those systems affected.

“I’m all for that,” Earnhardt said. “I want to be as sharp … hell, maybe this is something I should have been doing all along. There is a lot of … stuff on computers that athletes do that don’t even have concussions that I have at my fingertips today. … There is a lot of stuff that I can continue to do that will keep me sharp and keep me ready to go.”

He doesn’t expect to be monitored by NASCAR officials any differently than any other driver going forward, and there are no safety changes being made by the team as a result of his latest incident.

As confident as he was before Wednesday’s test, Earnhardt admitted he was “anxious” to get behind the wheel. He said he even had trouble sleeping the night before.

Any lingering concerns were erased as soon as he hit the track.

“Darlington is a tough track, but the nerves were gone after about four laps and then it was ‘Let’s just run, let’s run some more, put some tires on and go some more,'” he said.