Earnhardt, his wife and their daughter survived a frightening small-plane crash Aug. 15 while traveling to Bristol Motor Speedway.
Nobody was seriously hurt in the crash, but Earnhardt skipped his broadcast duties as an analyst on NBC Sports to focus on recovering with his family at home in Mooresville.
He wrote in a Twitter post Wednesday that his lower back was bruised after the crash, but said he's been treating the area daily.
Yes. I plan on driving still. My lower back is bruised up real bad. Lots of swelling and I just need that to go down and the pain to chill out. I been treating the area every day solely to get well to race. I have a plan B but hope not to use it. https://t.co/O1J7jZU4kR
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) August 22, 2019
Earnhardt, who has been named NASCAR's most popular driver a near-record 15 times, retired from full-time NASCAR competition at the end of the 2017 season, according to NASCAR.com. That year he became an on-air analyst and contributor for the NBC Sports Group.
After the move, Earnhardt still had a pair of Xfinity Series races on his schedule for his JR Motorsports team, according to NASCAR.com: one last year at Richmond Raceway and one this year at the Darlington Raceway.
Earnhardt released a statement on Monday and also topped a previously recorded episode of the "Dale Jr. Download" podcast with a message thanking his fans for their love and support and for giving his family privacy.
The Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway is scheduled for Aug. 31 at 4 p.m.
The Cox Media Group National Content Desk contributed to this report.
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