After suffering a season-ending concussion in a crash in July of 2016, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he didn't even care about racing for a while.
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Earnhardt had suffered concussions in the past, and after last year's concussion, he was unsure if he even wanted to race again.
"When I was sick, I just wanted to get well - I didn't worry about racing at all," Earnhardt told USA Today. "I didn't care about racing the least little bit. I didn't have any desire to return. I just had the desire to get well and get back to being myself and feeling like a normal person, and then I would think about racing after all that happened."
After recovering from the concussion and undergoing rehabilitation, Earnhardt is racing at Sunday's Daytona 500. He credited his wife, Amy, for helping him recover. The two were married on New Year's Eve of 2016.
Happily married!!! What an amazing experience. Looking forward to the rest of our lives @Amy_Reimann. #honeymooners pic.twitter.com/jepHaBiOGA
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) January 1, 2017
Earnhardt said he would be "thrilled" with a victory in Daytona.
"It would make a lot of people happy," Earnhardt said. "I would certainly enjoy it, but it would make my doctors very happy. It would make my team and family very happy."
The Daytona 500 is Sunday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. Eastern on Fox.
(h/t For The Win)