Dale Earnhardt Jr. Still Plans on Racing at Darlington, Has Plan B in Case

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is still recovering from slight injuries sustained in a plane crash this past Thursday at Elizabethton Municpal Airport in Tennessee.On Wednesday, Earnhardt answered a fan on Twitter who asked if he still planned on racing at Darlington next week in the wake of the plane crash.

Earnhardt gave a very honest answer.

Yes. I plan on driving still. My lower back is bruised up real bad. Lots of swelling and I just need that to go down and the pain to chill out. I been treating the area every day solely to get well to race. I have a plan B but hope not to use it. https://t.co/O1J7jZU4kR

— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) August 22, 2019

If the pain in his lower back continues to subside with treatment, Earnhardt should be ready to race. It would be his first time behind the wheel in 2019.

If Earnhardt is unable to go due to the pain in his back he revealed that the plan b is to have someone else drive the No. 8 car that will be painted just like the car his father made his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut in at Charlotte in 1975.

Earnhardt — who retired from full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing after the 2017 season — made one start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series a season ago at Richmond Raceway. In that race, Earnhardt led 96 laps en route to a fourth place finish.