Curt Cavin

curt.cavin@indystar.com

Jeff Gordon is coming out of retirement to replace the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. at this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports announced Wednesday.

Gordon will drive the No. 88 Chevrolet intended for Earnhardt, who has been suffering from concussion-like symptoms for more than a week. Gordon also will drive the car in next week's race at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway as Earnhardt gets additional rest.

Gordon, who turns 45 on Aug. 4, retired from Cup racing at the end of last season. In the No. 24 Chevrolet owned by Hendrick Motorsports, he won 93 series races and four season championships over 24 seasons. Gordon’s last win came Nov. 1 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. His last race was Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“Jeff’s a team player,” team owner Rick Hendrick said in a statement released by the team. “I know he’ll be ready, and I know Dale has incredible trust in him. It’s going to be an emotional weekend (at Indianapolis) with Dale not being there and seeing Jeff back behind the wheel."

Gordon has won the Brickyard 400 a record five times, most recently in 2014. He won the track’s inaugural NASCAR event in 1994 and is considered a hometown favorite — he spent his high school years living in nearby Pittsboro — despite being born in Vallejo, Calif.

Gordon’s return figures to spice up the Brickyard, which is struggling to attract ticket buyers in its 23rd year. This weekend’s race also features the final IMS appearance of Tony Stewart, a Columbus native who is retiring from NASCAR at season’s end.

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The first Sprint Cup practice at IMS is at 1:30 p.m. Friday. The Crown Royal 400 is at 3:19 p.m. Sunday.

Gordon and Earnhardt were Hendrick teammates for eight seasons. Gordon remains an equity owner of the team.

Hendrick told reporters last weekend in New Hampshire that Gordon was in France when Hendrick called him about the possibility of driving.

“He thought I was kidding at first,” Hendrick said. “He was on vacation, and I asked him what he was doing, and he said, ‘I’ll be in Indy.’”

Hendrick told him to bring his driver’s uniform, just in case.

“He said, ‘Are you kidding?’” Hendrick said. “I said, ‘No, I’m serious.’”

Earnhardt said problems with balance and nausea led him to step out of the car for last weekend’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He was replaced for that race by Alex Bowman, who finished 26th.

The team said Earnhardt underwent further evaluation Tuesday at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program.

Earnhardt’s only public comments since the decision were recorded Sunday evening and posted on his weekly audio update on Dirty Mo Radio.

“The symptoms that I have are balance and nausea,” he said. “I’ve struggled with my balance over the last four (or) five days, and I definitely wouldn’t be able to drive a race car (at New Hampshire). ... I made the decision I had to make.

“I’m going to work with my doctors to understand more about the injury and how to treat it."

Fast forward: Story lines to watch at the Brickyard 400

Earnhardt said he was encouraged by the first round of results of concussion tests he took.

“My mind feels real sharp,” he said. “I took the ImPACT tests, which measures thought process and the speed of your thought process and memory and retaining memory, and my results matched my baseline, which made me feel confident that my brain was pretty sharp. It feels good.”

Earnhardt said doctors gave him exercises to retrain his brain “to handle what I need to handle.”

“It’s just going to take a lot of patience,” he said. “I put my health and quality of life as a top priority. I’ll always do that, so I’m going to take this slow and strictly follow the advice of my doctors and try to learn as much as I can to be smarter and wiser.

“It’s always been a real experience going through this type of stuff because you learn so much through the experience. So, I’ve got some great doctors to learn from.”

Earnhardt, 41, believes crashes June 12 at Michigan International Speedway and July 2 at Daytona International Speedway contributed to the symptoms. He initially thought he was suffering from severe allergies or a sinus infection.

Earnhardt’s injuries are not considered career-threatening, Hendrick said last weekend.

Follow IndyStar reporter Curt Cavin on Facebook and Twitter: @curtcavin.

Brickyard 400 event schedule

Thursday

• Hauler parade, 5-8 p.m. on Speedway’s Main Street. Suggested donation: backpack or school supplies benefiting the Haughville Back to School rally

• Greta Sparks concert, 7 p.m.

Friday

• Gates and Midway open, 8 a.m.

• XFINITY series practices, noon-1:25 p.m. and 3-3:55 p.m.

• Sprint Cup Series practices, 1:30-2:55 p.m. and 4-5:25 p.m.

Saturday

• Gates and midway open, 8 a.m.

• NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying, 11:40 a.m.-1 p.m.

• NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying, 1:45 p.m.-2:45 p.m.

• NASCAR XFINITY Series “Drivers start your engines,” 3:32 p.m.

• Three heat races, 3:49, 4:26 and 5:09 p.m.

• Parmalee concert, 7 p.m.

• Kid Rock concert, 8 p.m.

Sunday

• Gates and midway open, 10 a.m.

• NASCAR Sprint Cup Series “Drivers start your engines,” 3:07 p.m.

• 23rd running of the Crown Royal presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard (160 Laps), 3:19 p.m.