<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"NASCAR fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss the next two races in Charlotte and Kansas after being diagnosed with his second concussion in six weeks.The news surprised a lot of NASCAR fans in New Hampshire, but they give him a lot of credit for admitting that he wasn\u2019t feeling 100 percent and getting out of his car.\"I think if I give myself time to get healed up, I can race for as long as I want to race,\" Earnhardt said.\"I was worried that it was going to be the last of him, to tell you the honest-to-God truth, but you just cross your fingers and hope to the best about that,\" said NASCAR fan Randy Barton.Earnhardt was caught up in a 25-car crash over the weekend at Talladega, and when he finally went to a neurosurgeon, he got the bad news. Dr. Miguel Gaeta, trauma surgeon at Elliot Hospital, said concussions are more serious than many people realize.\"It's a traumatic brain injury. It's a true injury to the brain. The extent of the injury, we can't fully understand or explain, but it may very well be permanent to some extent,\" Gaeta said.Earnhardt was having a strong season after finally breaking a four-year winless streak last summer and was in the middle of the chase for the Sprint Cup championship.\"I think it takes a bigger man today to step out of a car when he's in a championship race, and he's going to forgo a lot of money because of this, but in the big picture, it's the right thing for Dale Earnhardt to do,\" said New Hampshire Motor Speedway General Manager Jerry Gappens.While NASCAR fans may be disappointed that Earnhardt will be sitting out, they said they are hoping he can come back even stronger.\"It's probably a good idea that he (sits out), so that way, he won't get hurt or other people won't get hurt,\" said NASCAR fan Jody Gallant.\u00A0"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wmur.com/article/fans-react-to-earnhardt-sitting-out-2-races/5177087>