Driver Eric McClure details concussion recovery process

• The Nationwide Series driver missed five races after a concussion at Talladega in May
• His case could provide insight into what Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have to deal with in coming weeks
• McClure said tests of numbers, shapes and letters were difficult in his recovery

CONCORD, N.C. — After suffering his third concussion in less than two years, NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Eric McClure was told by a neurologist in May not to travel to races, limit how much TV he watched and engage in "total brain rest" to help his recovery.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will miss the next two Sprint Cup races because of his second concussion since Aug. 29, likely will face similar restrictions.

"They limited telephone, television. I don't need to be thinking ... (or) on the go, focused on other things," McClure told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday. "They felt I needed to be at home, and I needed rest.

"I cheated and watched TV. I couldn't stand it. I had to watch the races."

McClure missed five races after suffering a concussion and other injuries in a crash at Talladega Superspeedway in May. He said he suffered headaches and blurred vision after that incident. Earnhardt said Thursday that his only symptom was headaches.

Early in his recovery, McClure thought he was ready to get back in the car. Dr. Jerry Petty, who is treating Earnhardt, had McClure close his eyes.

McClure lost his balance.

"That was pretty scary," he said.

While every concussion is different, what McClure went through to be cleared to drive will be similar to what Earnhardt will go through.

McClure said the tests he took ranged from computer exercises that tested his memory and reaction time to balance exercises.

McClure said when he arrived for his first doctor's visit, he took a 45-minute test to provide a baseline of his mental abilities. He took the test weekly so Petty could see what kind of progress he was making.

Once the headaches went away for an extended period of time and it appeared McClure could be ready, he had more stringent testing. His heart rate was elevated as doctors sought to simulate some of the conditions McClure could go through while competing to see if the headaches and blurred vision returned.

Then McClure took computer tests.

"It's just a lot of things," McClure said. "It's like, 'What number was this shape on?' It's all short-term memory. Numbers, shapes, letters. When I did it, I was like, 'This is the most complicated thing I've ever seen,' but it's really the simplest thing. There was no comprehensive thinking."

The concussion was McClure's third since Aug. 2010.

McClure suffered a concussion at Bristol Motor Speedway that year and did not race the following week at Montreal. He was cleared by a neurologist located near his Virginia home but sat out because of a sponsorship issue.

A crash at Daytona in July 2011 provided another concussion. He was cleared by the same neurologist and raced the following week at Kentucky Speedway. McClure said he didn't feel any affects in the car but did afterward in how long it took to recover.

"When you go through these things," McClure said, "you realize how serious this stuff is."