NASCAR: Doctors say I will race again - Earnhardt

During his first at-track appearance in nearly a month, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he has every intention of returning to NASCAR and never once considered that his road to recovery from a concussion would force him into a premature retirement.

With that said, Earnhardt will still miss at least the next two Sprint Cup races and still hasn't established a timeline for his return to the sport. The popular driver hasn't competed in a race since leaving Kentucky Speedway on July 9.

Earnhardt traveled to Watkins Glen International on Friday to spend time with his team and met with the media to provide everyone an update on his current status.

"Our intentions are to get cleared and get back to racing," Earnhardt said. "We are just taking it one evaluation at a time. It's frustrating to have to do it that way, but that is the process, and we hope and expect that when we go back for the next evaluation that we are symptom free and can start to see a timeline develop.

"Until then, we are just taking it one evaluation at a time. Those are typically every two to three to four weeks."

Jeff Gordon will remain in the car at Watkins Glen and Bristol but nothing has been decided beyond that point. If Earnhardt is given clearance to return after that point, he wants to test a stock car of some kind just to regain a feel for competition.

The most logical option will be one of his JR Motorsport Late Models or he hopes NASCAR would consider waiving its testing ban to allow Earnhardt to get re-acclimated to a Cup car.

"I don't know what the doctor would choose there, to let me back in a car as soon as I'm symptom free or if I need to be symptom free for a week or two weeks," Earnhardt said. "I don't know what he will do. We haven't really talked about that. I personally would like to get in a race car and drive it at a closed course somewhere... I think I should do that.

"That would be the smartest thing to do before actually trying to accomplish an entire race weekend."

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This is the second time Earnhardt has had to miss time behind the wheel due to a concussion, missing two races during the 2012 Chase for the Championship following a violent crash at Talladega Superspeedway. Despite the recurring symptoms, Earnhardt says he hasn't once thought of retirement.

Before his latest concussion, he had actually approached car owner Rick Hendrick about extending his current contact, which runs out at the end of next season. Despite the setback, returning to competition and remaining with Hendrick Motorsports is still at the top of his agenda. He has often spoken of unfinished business in terms of winning his first career Cup championship with the organization.

But in order to do that, he must first get healthy.

"I'm not thinking about the what-ifs," Earnhardt said. "I'm just listening to my doctors. We went into this with every intentions of getting back in the car when we get cleared. I think that is a possibility and so do my doctors. So I am excited about that.

"Whenever it happens; it happens."

Not only does Earnhardt expect to be medically cleared at some point in the near future, he also believes his current treatment will make him impervious to repeat occurrences. His symptoms include issues with gaze stability and his doctors have encouraged him to engage in situations that force his symptoms to flare up. The idea is that it will force his brain to endure and build up a resistance to the the gaze stability problems.

"It's frustrating that we've had to miss this many races," Earnhardt said. "When we first went into the doctor's office, we never anticipated being out this long. Unfortunately it is a slower process. There are no guidelines or rule book, or consistent history on how long this stuff really takes to clear up. So, we just have to be patient.

"But, my doctors feel great about the opportunity that I will not only be healthy again, but they can actually make my brain stronger to be able to withstand these common events."

Despite being asked three times about the possibility of retirement, Earnhardt didn't entertain the notion once. He plans to return as soon as possible.

"I'm not ready to stop racing," Earnhardt said. "I'm not ready to quit. It's a slower process – I wish it wasn't. I don't know how long it's going to take. As impatient as I am I worry about everyone else's patients as well.

"But, I'm not going to go in the car until the doctors clear me. The doctors won't let me race. This is not my decision, but it's the right decision and I trust what my doctors are telling me. When they say I'm good to go, I believe them. If they say I'm healthy and I can race I'm going to race."