NASCAR in some ways is still reeling from the two concussions suffered in three weeks last season by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The Sprint Cup series’ most popular driver missed most of the Chase for the Cup because of the head injury. Fellow drivers talked about their previous concussions. And the auto racing organization admitted it didn’t have a concussion testing program.

Earnhardt said this week that his symptoms have subsided. The related news out of the media events leading up to the Daytona 500 is that NASCAR is a year away from requiring drivers to get baseline concussion testing, according to The Associated Press.

Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing operations, said officials have also urged drivers to get an ImPACT test before this season.

“We’ve encouraged them all to get that, with the emphasis that in 2014 that almost likely will be mandated for all of them,” O’Donnell said Thursday at Daytona International Speedway. “We’re in the process of doing that right now. We’re educating them on what it is, how it works, and we’ll come back with that for the 2014 preseason.”

The test is used by many professional sports leagues, including the NFL, to assess concussions and determine when an injured athlete can safely return to play. The ImPACT test has transformed the way concussions are managed by giving a tangible measure of what’s going on in the brain. It’s a computer-based series of fast-paced quizzes involving words, pictures and colors. Scores reflect how quickly and correctly the questions are answered.

Earnhardt, who underwent months of treatment, is a proponent of the baseline test.

“The test is really simple and pretty straightforward,” Earnhardt said.

– Bill Bradley, contributing editor