Dale Earnhardt Jr. Will Miss Sprint Cup Race

By ESPN

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss the Sprint Cup race this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway because of concussion-like symptoms. He will be replaced by Alex Bowman, the team announced Thursday afternoon.

Earnhardt, who missed two races in 2012 because of a concussion, has had two wrecks in a three-race stretch from June 12 to July 2.

There is no timetable for the return of the 41-year-old Earnhardt, who is winless and sits 14th in the Chase-qualifying standings with a 34-point lead on 16th-place Trevor Bayne, the first driver who would miss the Chase for the Sprint Cup in the current cutoff based on wins and points.

"I wasn't feeling great the week going into Kentucky [Speedway] and thought it was possibly severe allergies," Earnhardt said in a statement. "I saw a family doctor and was given medication for allergies and a sinus infection. When that didn't help, I decided to dig a little deeper. Because of my symptoms and my history with concussions, and after my recent wrecks at Michigan and Daytona, I reached out and met with a neurological specialist. After further evaluation, they felt it was best for me to sit out.

"I'm disappointed about missing New Hampshire this weekend. I'm looking forward to treatment with the goal of getting back in the race car when the doctors say I'm ready."

Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick said he was proud of Dale "for standing up."

"The No. 1 priority is his health, so we're going to give him all the time he needs," Hendrick added. "We completely support the decision by the doctors and will be ready to go win races when he's 100 percent. In the meantime, we have full confidence in [crew chief] Greg Ives and the team, and we know they'll do a great job."

Earnhardt crashed June 12 at Michigan while battling for position with Chris Buescher and AJ Almendinger. While the crash didn't appear that hard -- the right side of the car banged against the wall -- it did do enough damage to keep Earnhardt from returning to the race. Just 13 days later, Earnhardt was involved in the 22-car pileup at Daytona, but he was able to continue as his car hit a couple of others while driving through the melee.