Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn't know how many concussions he's had in his career.
On the final lap in last weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega, a massive wreck wiped out the majority of the field.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving the lime-green No. 88, was caught up in the chaos and finished 20th, putting a major dent in his championship aspirations.
Image by Butch Dill / AP
Junior seemed to be unharmed, though, and even gave his teammate Jimmie Johnson a lift back to the garage. Earnhardt went about his post-race interviews as usual.
Image by Tom Pennington, Pool / AP
Today it was revealed that during the accident, Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered his second concussion in the past six weeks from the impact, and will miss at least the next two races. The first came in a incident in a tire test at Kansas Speedway in August. As one of the twelve drivers currently competing in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup -- a sort of playoff system to decide the season's champion -- he will effectively forfeit any chance to win his first title.
The weird thing is, concussions aren't supposed to happen in NASCAR. In fact, there are safety implementations in place to ensure head injuries rarely occur, a product of the safety-at-all-costs movement started after Dale Earnhardt Sr. died after a crash in the 2001 Daytona 500. In particular, the head and neck support device (the HANS device) is now worn by all drivers to prevent any whip-like head motion in the event of an accident.