should never have revealed that he drove with a concussion after his
wreck at California."I don't know what he was thinking," Mark commented. "Things would have been a lot better if he'd have just left it alone.
"He wasn't a danger to anyone on the track, he was still capable of driving, and now this thing has gotten blown way out of proportion because of who he is," Mark said.
"Now NASCAR is getting involved. They'll end up telling us when we can drive. They'll say it's for safety reasons, but I don't believe NASCAR should be telling us when we can and can't race," Mark said.
"I don't want them or some panel of doctors telling me when I have to get out of the car," Mark continued.
"They should leave that up to us. The drivers know better than anyone when they're hurting.
"You're not going to get in a race car if you can't drive it, and if you do feel bad once you're out there, you can always come in and get a relief driver," Mark said.
"But it doesn't matter what I say or think, NASCAR's going to do whatever it wants to do anyway," Mark added.
Earnhardt Jr. hit the wall hard at California April 28. He was never officially diagnosed with a head injury and continued to drive, wrecking or hitting the wall four times in the next eight races.
Earnhardt Jr. said he was capable of driving physically, but admitted that he sometimes had trouble communicating with the pits.
He said he didn't say anything initially because he thought the incident would be blown out of proportion.
"Dale Jr. wasn't unsafe out there. He wasn't a danger to anybody," Mark stressed.
"I've driven with a busted up knee and a broken wrist. That's the nature of this sport. You have to be out there."
After learning of Earnhardt's condition, NASCAR issued a new directive saying all drivers who suffer a head injury must be medically cleared by NASCAR before they can return to the track.
But Mark says medical procedures can't always tell whether or not a driver is capable of competing.
"Morgan Shepherd used to get knocked out a lot when he crashed, but he was good to go the next day. It wasn't serious," Mark said. "He wasn't a danger to anybody. Some people are like that."
Donnie Allison agrees. Allison was one of the best in a rough and tumble era when, at least compared to today, safety was an afterthought.
As is Mark, Allison is vehemently against doctors or NASCAR officials making decisions about when a driver can and cannot compete.
"I had a serious head injury, I was in a pretty bad accident and I wanted to run a short track race at Birmingham (Ala.)," Allison said.
"So I went to my doctor and he said you're OK, and my neurosurgeon said I was OK, but I just didn't feel right," Allison commented.
"The race was rained out so I didn't run, and I went back to see my neurosurgeon because I was worried.
"I said `I don't feel right, are you sure I'm OK to drive?' and he said `if you're asking me if your injury has healed, the answer is yes. But if you're asking me are you able to drive, I can't tell you that. Only you know that,"' Allison related.
"When it comes down to it, only one guy can make that decision, not some group of doctors or a bunch of NASCAR officials," Allison added.
