It was only a matter of time before Dale Earnhardt Jr. ventured into becoming an author.
The former NASCAR driver and 15-time winner of the sport’s Most Popular Driver award, Earnhardt announced Wednesday on NBC’s NASCAR America that he is in the process of publishing his first book, “Racing To The Finish: My Story.” It is scheduled to release on Oct. 16 of this year.
So what can fans expect from Earnhardt’s first literary work?
Earnhardt mentioned Wednesday that the book will focus on Earnhardt’s struggle with concussions, a series of injuries that contributed to his retirement from NASCAR in November. Earnhardt missed half of the 2016 season due to concussions, and at multiple points throughout his final season, he mentioned that head injuries were one of the reasons he was stepping away from the sport.
Now, readers will have insight into just what that experience was like.
“I am writing a book about my experiences with concussions, really going all the way back to 2012, when I was injured for the first time,” Earnhardt said. “I started keeping a journal from that point, all the way up until the present, regarding all of my experiences with crashes, symptoms and rehab. Really anything that was involving my life and what I was going through.”
One point of emphasis in the book will be the severity of Earnhardt’s repeated head injuries, something he says many casual fans may not have been aware of.
“I don’t think anyone,” Earnhardt said, “outside of (my wife) Amy and my doctor, knows exactly everything that went on, and how bad it was.”
Since suffering his concussions, Earnhardt has become a vocal advocate of preventing and properly treating concussions in sports, especially NASCAR. As part of his final season in 2017, Charlotte Motor Speedway even donated $100,000 as a retirement present to create the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Concussion Research Fund at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte.
But in addition to telling about life with concussions, Earnhardt said his book will also reveal something many fans still question him about: his decision to retire from NASCAR.
“My fans ask me all the time why I retired early from driving, when I probably had a couple more years,” Earnhardt said. “I think this book will answer all of those questions. It will also help people, like myself, who are going through the situation (and are) feeling helpless.”
To find out more or preorder Earnhardt’s book, visit dalejr.com/book.
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