LOUDON – The blow came Thursday evening. By Friday morning, the ripples had spread to every last corner of New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The announcement on a sleepy Thursday that Dale Earnhardt Jr. would miss Sunday’s New Hampshire 301 sent shock waves throughout NASCAR, and many of the sport’s stars spent Friday reeling from the news that one of its biggest names was out – and that one of its greatest champions could be coming back.
Hendrick Motorsports made the news official during a morning press conference that Earnhardt Jr. is out of the race with concussion symptoms, and the team made headlines again by announcing that retired icon and current Fox Sports analyst Jeff Gordon would be the replacement if Earnhardt’s absence continues past Sunday.
“If Dale is not able to go to Indianapolis, we will put Jeff Gordon in the car,” Hendrick General Manager Doug Duchardt said. “That’s for sure if Dale’s not ready.”
The two-pronged stunner of Earnhardt’s ailment and Gordon’s potential return dominated the afternoon. Every driver who came in through the NHMS media center was asked for a reaction, and the opinions ranged from praise for Earnhardt for seeking a doctor’s advice to the same shock the fans were feeling.
The news came as a surprise, since Earnhardt finished the last three races running and his symptoms were benign enough for him to conclude he had just gotten sick.
“At Kentucky, Dale started talking to (crew chief) Greg (Ives) that he wasn’t really right,” Duchardt said. “He felt like he had a cold or the flu or some sort of sinus infection that was causing him to not feel well.”
Earnhardt missed two races with a concussion in 2012, however, and the popular Hendrick star followed his instinct to check if anything was amiss this time – a move that proved wise.
“Dale then went and saw a team of neurologists, and in the past two days has been going through some tests,” Duchardt said. “(Thursday) around noon is when I found out that Dale could not be in the car … based on their suggestion.”
The drivers were caught off guard when the news filtered down.
“I was actually texting him back about trying different kinds of honey, because that’s what my wife uses,” Ryan Newman said. “Here I go talking to a guy about trying different honey and he is out of the race car the next week.”
Carl Edwards said, “For him to step out of a race car, it must be something serious. I have a lot of respect for him for making that decision. I can’t imagine how tough that decision would be.”
The procedure for dealing with concussions in NASCAR depends largely on how the driver is feeling. The association mandates baseline testing, but the drivers aren’t all sure which results force a driver to be pulled from a race.
“If you get an A-plus on your baseline and you get a D on your next one, does that mean that you’re out of the car?” Kyle Busch asked. “There’s never been that sort of stance or that clarity from NASCAR, from the doctors on what they think is allowed to get back in the race car and what isn’t.”
NASCAR puts stock in drivers being honest with how they’re physically feeling, but drivers know they can’t do the job with concussions on their mind.
“You think about it,” Joey Logano said. “But not when you’re in a race car. That’s a huge distraction.”
Alex Bowman will get the start in place of Earnhardt Jr., and the 23-year-old driver, a full-time Sprint Cup competitor the previous two seasons, is excited for the audition with a premier team.
“I’m hoping Dale feels better, but at the same time it’s the best opportunity I’ve ever had in my life,” he said.
If Gordon is required to climb into a car after bidding the racing world adieu, those who competed against him expect to see Gordon close to form.
“If that did happen, I wouldn’t say it’s out of the question,” Newman said. “I think he is fully capable.”
Third place was looking pretty good for Bobby Santos. Then he saw an opening for much more.
Santos took advantage of a late accident between Woody Pitkat and Todd Szegedy to win the Whelen All-Star Shootout at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, beating a field of the Whelen Modified Tour and Southern Modified Tour’s best drivers.
The 35-lap race had boiled down to a final-lap showdown between leader Pitkat and Szegedy, both of whom had raced to top-three spots in the first half of the race, then climbed back on top after being displaced during the mid-race shuffle.
Pitkat held off Szegedy until the third turn, when Szegedy tried to pass on the inside. The two made contact and both lost control, Pitkat spinning toward the infield and Szegedy sliding into the wall.
That cleared the way for Santos, ranked eighth in the Modified standings and running in third, to cruise to the victory. Eric Goodale was second and Ronnie Silk placed third.
Szegedy and Pitkat finished 14th and 19th, respectively, in the 20-person field.
“We’ve had a little bit of a struggle the last year and a half,” said Santos, who won at Thompson Speedway on June 15. “(But) we came to New Hampshire excited, thinking we had as good of a shot as anybody to win (Friday) and (today). (Today’s) the big race for us, and I don’t see any reason we can’t be back here.”
With three wins and seven poles at the Magic Mile, Ryan Newman has made himself into one of Loudon’s better drivers.
Just don’t count him among its biggest fans.
“Anybody that has been here as long as I have … (knows) I always say that this is my least favorite race track,” he said. “Now, after seven poles and a few wins, it is probably one of my best race tracks.”
That’s not to say Newman doesn’t consider there to be a strategy to attacking NHMS, one of racing’s most difficult passing tracks.
“I’ve always said this is the birthplace of track position,” he said. “We have always spent a lot of time in qualifying trim here and qualified well. I think that pays dividends for the race itself.”
Joey Gase, a driver in the Xfinity Series, will feature the names and images of 32 people affected by brain aneurysms on his No. 52 car during today’s AutoLotto 200. Gase, who lost his mother to an aneurysm five years ago, is working with the Lisa Colagrossi Foundation and will show the pictures of anyone who donated either $50, $75 or $100.
(Drew Bonifant can be reached at 369-3340, abonifant@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @dbonifant.)