Pocono may be the one that got away for sidelined Dale Jr.

Unfortunately, he remains sidelined with concussion symptoms, and that's as it should be. His first priority should be his health. At 41, there’s so much blue sky ahead for Earnhardt once he steps out of the race car. Right now, racing should be his last concern.

The one that got away?

Still, it’s been a pleasure watching Earnhardt blossom at the Tricky Triangle over the last six seasons. Yes, the Earnhardt name is synonymous with restrictor-plate racing — and he has a remarkable record at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. But when Steve Letarte took over crew chief duties in 2011 — and passed the torch to Greg Ives in 2015 — Earnhardt’s only finishes outside the top 10 on the 2.5-mile track were 32nd in July 2012 when his transmission failed and 11th in the June race last year.

Subtract the mechanical failure from the finishes in his last 11 starts, and Earnhardt’s average at Pocono is fifth.

Pocono Raceway just might be the one that got away in terms of winning a race and making the Chase.

Put me in coach

Team owner Rick Hendrick was fortunate to have an ace reliever in his bullpen. When it comes to substitutes, no one can touch Jeff Gordon's stats at Pocono. Although he’s still not completely comfortable with the new rules package, the four-time Sprint Cup champion has two decades of excellence at Pocono to draw on.

In 46 starts, Gordon scored six wins, two poles, 20 top fives and 32 top 10s. His average finish of 9.8 is still top on the Sprint Cup tour among current drivers.

After a week of acclimating to the No. 88 team and crew chief Greg Ives, Gordon believes this weekend will be smoother. Still, he looks forward to the day when Earnhardt can return.

“I really liked working with Greg and the whole No. 88 team,” Gordon said. “I’m looking forward to going to Pocono. I want Dale Jr. back in the car as soon as possible … but to go to Indy and finish a decent 13th, I think I can do better this week for him and then we’ll just go from there.

“We are all going to work together to do our best to continue to keep that excitement and momentum in the team there for when he is ready to come back, so he comes back and doesn’t miss a beat and can win some races.”

Up to speed

Gordon, who spent his formative years of racing in Indianapolis, wasn’t adversely affected by the heat last weekend. He had no issue going the distance in the Brickyard 400 before finishing 13th.

However, if there’s one area where the “retired” driver struggled following a 20-race absence, it was on restarts. Keeping up with the full-timers was a challenge for the soon-to-be 45-year-old.

“I got my butt kicked on those restarts,” Gordon said after Sunday. “It was embarrassing. While I will fill-in for Dale Jr., and I hope he’s doing good, I needed a fill-in on restarts. It was pretty bad. Other than that, I thought it went really well.

“It took us a little while to get the balance right and the adjustments came to us, (Ives) made an awesome pit call to come in early one time. And he called it right as I was going into Turn 4 and that made up a lot of spots for us because we had a fast race car. We just couldn’t get the track position. It was pretty tough to pass…But, I’m going to need some practice on restarts for Pocono anyway. We finally actually there on that last one, got the car where it was decent on the outside..,I’m looking forward to going to Pocono.”