MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. arrived in the garage 90 minutes prior to practice at Dover International Speedway earlier this month. Some people who know him were shocked to see him so early.He admits as a driver, he would never have made it into the garage as the crews began working on the car. Now that hes out of the car recovering from a concussion, he has learned to enjoy everything about being outside the car.Im like, I dont know why I dont do this when Im driving the car? Earnhardt said Wednesday. Why do I wait until the last minute possible to come into the garage? Why is it such a pain in the ass to get up and come to the garage for practice?Once youre in the car, its fine. The whole process of getting up and coming into the garage seemed like such a hassle. Once I get back in the car, Ive got to get a whole new frame of mind.Earnhardt has not raced since July 9. He has missed the last 12 races and will miss the remaining six because of a concussion suffered June 12 in a crash at Michigan.Even out of the car, Earnhardt has tried to earn his paycheck: He made eight public appearances prior to the race Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He appeared Wednesday at a news conference where Martinsville Speedway announced a $5 million project to add lights.When I was driving, I really didnt enjoy everything I did outside the car, Earnhardt said. I did all that stuff reluctantly just to do the driving part. ... The pressure of racing made the majority of everything that came with it miserable. And I am probably responsible for controlling that.Being out of the car, Ive got to find a way that if Im going to race more, how to not feel so much pressure that it makes everything else intolerable or hard to do.Interacting with fans as he goes to the track each week, Earnhardt does have a suggestion for what they should not say.The wrong thing to say would be to give any kind of medical advice, Earnhardt said. We have people calling every day at JR Motorsports: Tell Dale to try this, tell him to try this drink, tell him to eat this. ... [They are] all those crazy hair-brained reasons why Im ill or what I need to get better.Earnhardt wont listen to the outside advice, trying to focus on the instructions from his doctors. He has spent his time doing exercises to help with the balance and vision issues he has suffered. He has lost 8 pounds.I feel good. I feel like I can get out there and do it. Im anxious for this season to get wrapped up and over with and get to Daytona.Im looking forward to going into Daytona and getting in the garage and getting into my suit and back into the process of being part of the team.With the break from driving, Earnhardt also has spent a little extra time helping plan his offseason wedding to fiancée Amy Reimann.We just want it to be a great day, the same way everybody kind of feels, he said. They just want everything to go right and not have any mistakes and ruin it. ... Its been really fun [planning] and nothing shocking.Some of the planning is pretty boring. Picking flowers and all that, I dont need to be in all that. I went to those meetings anyways, just to be supportive.Earnhardt turned 42 on Monday. He said he feels younger than his years, and age wont dictate when he will retire.I dont know if age is really a factor. Its really about the passion you have for it -- if you can get out of bed and get up on the wheel and want to do it, he said.?When you get up and you dont want it as much as the next guy, you have to start thinking about whether you belong there, whether the team deserves that kind of commitment. The team is going to go in there and work their guts out. They need the driver with the same attitude. Authentic Hockey Jerseys . LOUIS -- Rookie Tavon Austin has missed another day of practice, lessening the odds hell be ready for the St. Cheap Hockey Jerseys . Walcott is available for Saturdays home match against Southampton as Arsenal looks to extend its two-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners are currently the second highest scorers in the league but Wenger insists Walcott will add something extra to his team. https://www.fakehockeyjerseys.com/ .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. Fake Hockey Jerseys . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. Custom Hockey Jerseys .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. Miami and Florida are still set to host football games on Saturday as Hurricane Matthew marched toward Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas late Wednesday.The 10th-ranked?Hurricanes?have not made a decision to cancel or postpone Saturday nights home game against No. 23?Florida State?on ABC.Matthew was a dangerous and life-threatening Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 mph as it passed through the Bahamas on Wednesday, and it was expected to be very near Floridas Atlantic coast by Thursday evening. It is expected to make its way up the East Coast.?At least 16 deaths in the Caribbean have been blamed on the storm, with heavy damage reported in Haiti.I dont know what well do, to be honest with you, Miami coach Mark Richt said. Just keep everybody safe first. Well do the best we can.Florida State is scheduled to fly in Thursday night for the Miami game, though forecasters say Thursday could be the day when the Miami area absorbs the worst of Matthews wind.Weve looked through every scenario known to man and well figure it out here when it gets there, and well fly down when they tell us to fly down and play when they tell us to play, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said.As of Wednesday afternoon, the game is still on. Miamis athletic director Blake James said in a statement, We are monitoring Hurricane Matthew, and are in constant contact with stadium personnel. We are hopeful that the impact of Hurricane Matthew will be minimal and the game between the Hurricanes and Seminoles will be played as planned.University of Florida officials said Saturdays Southeastern Conference game between the?Gators?and?LSU?will not be moved?from?Gainesville.A final decision on the start time of the game will be made by 1 p.m. on Thursday as we continue to monitor the storm, the school said in a statement Wednesday. The games scheduled start time is noon at?Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.UF officials said they are working closely with local and state officials, as well as the SEC office, to monitor the hurricanes progress and its potential impact on campus and the safety of the fans.South Carolina officials said the?Gamecocks game against?Georgia?this weekend will be played in Columbia, although?they?acknowledged the date and time could change because of impending impact of the hurricane.The school said in a statement the USC vs. UGA game will be played in Columbia.Officials said they are monitoring Matthews track and will most likely make a decision on any changes Thursday. The school said it was communicating with the National Weather Service, the SEC and state and local authorities.Gov. Nikki Haley said the school was told Wednesday the state would not be able to spare personnel to help with a football game. Dozens of state troopers routinely help with traffic at Williams-Brice Stadium, which seats about 80,000.South Carolina senior associate athletic director Charles Bloom told Columbia radio station 107.5 WNKT-FM its possible the game could be played Sunday or Monday if necessary, with safety being the primary concern at this point.Were not going to risk peoples lives, and take emergency people away from people who really needd them, in order to host a football game, Bloom said.ddddddddddddMeanwhile, football games elsewhere in Florida were postponed, other events were canceled and contingency plans were being made. On Wednesday, the UCF Knights?decided to postpone their game against Tulane?until Nov. 5. The contest was scheduled to be played Friday night in Orlando.Taking into account all the latest projections for Hurricane Matthew, we have to keep the safety of everyone involved in these events at the forefront of our decision-making, UCF athletic director Danny White said in a statement. We appreciate our friends at Tulane and Houston understanding and working with us through this situation.Saturdays game between Florida Atlantic and Charlotte in Boca Raton will not be played Saturday and has tentatively been moved to Sunday, pending further assessments.Schools in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina have either postponed or canceled some soccer, volleyball and other college contests scheduled for the next few days.Two other college football games -- Albany State at Charleston Southern and Bethune-Cookman at South Carolina State -- have already been postponed.The Miami Heat, who arrived home Tuesday night after a 106-95 victory over the Washington Wizards in their preseason opener, decided to fly to Houston on Wednesday night to resume preseason workouts, according to a team spokesman.The Heat will use the Houston Rockets practice facilities before Saturdays preseason game against the?Minnesota Timberwolves in Kansas City. The Rockets are traveling to China for two preseason games.The?Tampa Bay Lightnings preseason game against the?Florida Panthers, which was scheduled for Thursday, has been canceled at?BB&T Center. The arena, which is outside of Miami, is under hurricane watch. The Panthers are scheduled to fly to West Point, New York, on Friday,?but if winds close airports in the Miami area, those plans would be affected.The Miami Dolphins are scheduled to host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, and officials are keeping a close watch. The Dolphins, who already had planned not to practice Thursday, will close their team offices to give players and coaches extra time to prepare for the storm.Were watching the weather with the hurricane thats going on down there, Titans coach Mike Mularkey said Tuesday on his radio show. There may be some weather issues. Theres a very slight chance that game could be moved up here. Theres been some discussion because of it.The ACC, which could have at least five Saturday football games directly affected by the storm, said it was monitoring Matthew closely and hoped games would be played as scheduled.Other Saturday ACC games that figure to be affected include Army at Duke, Virginia Tech at North Carolina, Syracuse at Wake Forest?and Notre Dame at NC State.Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said pushing his teams game back to Sunday was possible if events warranted.Everything is on the table right now, Kelly said.The Associated Press contributed to this report. ' ' '