Earnhardt Heads Home After Successful Surgery

Dr. Charles Branch performed successful surgery Friday on NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. The anterior cervical discectomy and fusion procedure began Friday morning at approximately 7:00 a.m. and took approximately two hours.

Dr. Branch removed the ruptured disc between the C-6 and C-7 vertebrae and he replaced the disc with a block of bone and then used a small titanium plate to fix the two bones together to promote the fusion and allow it to fuse more quickly.

"He'll need to wear a neck brace or collar periodically for several weeks," remarked Dr. Branch. "We've agreed that he's not going to drive his race car for six weeks. He'll be able to work on small projects around the shop, but we'll keep him out of the race car for a little while."

The seven-time champion was released from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Friday evening and is headed home to begin his recovery process. The six-week recovery period would conclude on January 28th, 15 days before the NASCAR Winston Cup teams begin qualifying for the Daytona 500.