Jimmie Johnson‘s driver, Erik Jones, had a rough go at Talladega on April 22 during the Geico 500. After getting tangled up in a nasty crash involving John Hunter Nemechek and Bubba Wallace, Jones’s #43 slammed hard into the turn-3 safe barrier wall and ended up with a compression fracture in the lower vertebra. The injury forced Jones to sit out the races at Dover and Kansas. Now, just as he’s gearing up to return for the Darlington race, his boss, Jimmie Johnson, has delivered some tough news that doesn’t sound too promising.

Right after the crash at Talladega, Erik Jones was heard talking about back pain on the radio. Jones managed to chat with reporters briefly after getting checked out at the infield care center, mentioning he was “a little sore” but overall okay. NASCAR later informed that he had to go to the hospital for more checks and then get released.

After the accident, Erik was sidelined and Truck Series driver Corey Heim stepped in at Dover and again at Kansas. In his first Cup Series start, Heim qualified 32nd and finished 25th. At Kansas, he started 20th but ended up 22nd. As a result, Before Heim took Eric Jones’s car to head into the Kansas race, the latter was sitting 23rd in the standings, but after missing two races, he slid down to 27th.

When he returns to the track on May 12 at Darlington, Erik Jones can only secure a playoff spot by winning a race this regular season. Thanks to a waiver from NASCAR he’s still in the running despite missing races, but he’s 102 points below the playoff cut line. He’s only 15 points above 30th and exactly 15 points below Josh Berry, sitting at P23. With his ranking taking a hit like that, climbing back up via points to make the playoffs seems like a long shot.

But the good news is that Erik Jones’ has been cleared to get back behind the wheel of his #43 Toyota. But will that be enough to ensure a playoff seat? Jimmie Johnson has his doubts. In an interview with PRN, Johnson was heard saying, “Really feel like Eric on points would have been able to make it in the top 16. So, I hated that that opportunity is closed for him. It’s not over. We still want to race and Eric’s very capable of winning. We just need to get everything under him.”

Now, all he has gone through is not in vain entirely. There’s still hope for the #43 driver to re-do what he has done twice at the track best known as the Lady in Black: a Cup Series victory!   

When reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney sustained a similar wreck at Daytona earlier this season, the G-force number released by Blaney was 70. Although Jones has yet to release similar data, pondering why Blaney never got injured as severely as he did, Jones had only this much to say, “The wreck and the injury I had, it could have been a lot worse in a lot of ways. I think that is a testament to the safety.”

Back injuries have thrown a wrench in the careers of many drivers, sidelining them for several races, so it’s going to be quite the scene to watch how Jones does back on the track at Darlington and in the races that follow.

Is it really time for Erik Jones to go driving in NASCAR again?

Doctors gave Erik Jones the green light, and NASCAR approved his return on Thursday. Yet Jimmie Johnson and Co. chose to bench him for last weekend’s race at the Kansas Speedway, giving him extra time to bounce back from his Talladega crash.

But this reminds everyone of Tony Stewart back in 2016, who got hurt riding in a sand car in Southern California. Initially, it looked like he’d miss the first three races of his final season, but he ended up sitting out the first eight. Brian Vickers and Ty Dillon stepped in to drive Stewart’s car during his recovery.

Similarly, in 2013, Denny Hamlin suffered a compression fracture in his lower back after a crash in the Auto Club 400. Such fractures happen when one of the vertebrae in the spine collapses, often due to a sharp shock. Hamlin was sidelined for four races to fully recover before getting back behind the wheel.

Now, with Erik Jones ready to race at Darlington just three weeks post-injury, folks in the NASCAR community are scratching their heads, wondering if he’s really ready to hit the track again.