Dale Earnhardt Jr. Comments on Return to Racing Ahead of 2017 NASCAR Season

NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. is so ready to return to the track he said, "I'm just freakin' pumped up about this," when describing a mere test run at Phoenix Raceway on Tuesday, per Bob Pockrass of ESPN.com.

Earnhardt Jr. missed the final 18 races of the 2016 season because of a concussion and hasn't raced since July 9. Tuesday was also his first time on a racetrack since he cleared a medical test on Dec. 7 at Darlington Raceway that was necessary to race in the Daytona 500 qualifiers on Feb. 23.

Earnhardt Jr. wasted little time getting on the road Tuesday:

Alex Bowman and Jeff Gordon replaced Earnhardt Jr. for Hendrick Motorsports when the latter was out. Each race organization could field just one car on Tuesday, and Earnhardt Jr. was behind the wheel.

He discussed what he missed after he suffered his concussion, per Pockrass: "You miss the camaraderie and the friendships I have with my road crew. I think they miss me. So that makes you feel good. They seem excited that we're working together and we're back together."

Pockrass noted Earnhardt Jr. finished fifth on speed during the first practice session and didn't experience any of the balance and gaze stability issues that hampered him following an accident in Michigan on June 12.

"It's been a fun day," Earnhardt said, per Pockrass. "It didn't really take any time to get acclimated or adjusted to anything. There's a couple of small new things with the cockpit or the dash, little things like that to get used to."

Earnhardt Jr. said he was "a little nervous" that there will be a learning curve when he returns to racing, but he had five top-five finishes last year and seven combined wins in 2014 and 2015. If he can return to form now that he is healthy again, he will be on the shortlist of contenders on a weekly basis in 2017.