Kyle Larson says doctors believe dehydration caused his fainting spell last weekend at Martinsville Speedway after ruling out other possibilities.
Larson was medically cleared to return to racing Thursday and spoke to the media. He will drive the No. 42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
“One of the first things they thought it was was dehydration, so they just ran a bunch of tests, like tons of tests on me just to make sure nothing else was wrong with my body,’’ Larson said. “It all kind of circled back to just being dehydrated.’’
Larson was unsure of what type of tests doctors did but said: “I had stuff hooked up to me from my head to my toes, really. Probably the only test they didn’t give in there was a math test.
“I never thought anything was wrong with me because I felt fine while I was sitting in the hospital. Just was looking forward to when I could finally get out. But yeah, I was never nervous about it being the end of my career or out for a while or anything like that. I had it pretty much set in my mind that I was okay.’’
Larson said he believes he does not have any follow-up tests.
Larson missed last weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway after fainting a day earlier during at autograph session at the track. Regan Smith drove for Larson.
Larson said he felt lightheaded at the end of the autograph session before passing out.
“It was just kind of a weird morning just because I was almost late to practice, so I just rushed myself that morning and didn’t take very good care of myself throughout the day and just ended up dehydrating myself,’’ Larson said. “Just got to do a better job of taking care of myself, and that should never happen again.’’
Larson was released from Carolinas Medical Center on Monday and completed testing Tuesday.