Jeff Gordon is prepared to step in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Indianapolis

Rick Hendrick made the suggestion in casual conversation with Jeff Gordon. Call it a desperation pass.

“What are you doing next week?” he said, trying to find a fallback plan in case Dale Earnhardt Jr. is unable to drive for a second consecutive week because of continued concussion-like symptoms.

“He said he’d be in Indy for one of the appearances he has to make,” Hendrick said. “I said, ‘Well, bring your driver’s uniform just in case.’ He said, ‘Are you kidding?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m serious.’ So if Dale can’t go then Jeff is ready to step in.”

And so there you go. The perfect storm of good and bad for the Hendrick Motorsports team.

The good: Gordon, a four-time Cup season champion who retired at the end of the 2015 season, is ready to step in should Earnhardt be unavailable for the 400-mile race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The bad: Earnhardt is still hung up physically, not only putting his chances of qualifying for the Chase in peril but also raising questions about his long-term future.

Things are understandably a bit fuzzy. Earnhardt did not race Sunday at New Hampshire after suffering balance issues and nausea. Presumably, he is still feeling the sting of crashes in Michigan and Daytona.

But there’s also concern that this is becoming a recurring issue because Earnhardt did not drive in two races in 2012 because of concussion-related symptoms as well. The encouraging news is that a test that measures cognitive function showed optimistic results, but the game plan is still TBA for Earnhardt and Hendrick Motorsports.

“I take my health and quality of life as a top priority. ... I am going to take this slow and strictly take the advice of my doctors,” Earnhardt said during his weekly race recap podcast, “The Dale Jr. Download.”

It was be the epitome of mixed emotions for Gordon to get back in a Hendrick car. That was Gordon’s only team in his NASCAR Cup career that spanned 23 full-time seasons. And he still has a business stake in the Hendrick team.

It would be an easy fit, under the most difficult conditions.

“I think Jeff will do well,” said team owner Hendrick. “He’s won that race a lot of times. I expect if he gets in the car, he might be a little bit rusty. But we’ve got a lot of practice time and I don’t think it’ll take Gordon long to get back in the groove.”

Gordon will have a few days to get over some jet lag if indeed he does drive in Indy. He was traveling back from Europe on Tuesday.

But that’s not the pressing physical concern at Hendrick Motorsports these days.

“He wants to race for a long time, so we are going to let the doctors make those decisions,” Hendrick said of Earnhardt. “It’s really hard at first and then the more you think about it it’s the right thing to do for him and it’s the right thing to do for the team and everyone else. He wants to get back and we want him back. We will just take it day by day.”

Mixed viewing numbers

Facts don’t lie, so the saying goes, but the numbers game involving NASCAR racing and fan engagement can be viewed through optimistic and pessimistic prisms.

“Debbie Downer” says that ratings are down for most races, including last weekend’s race at New Hampshire that included a 13% dip from last year (2.3 rating) and down 23% from 2014 on TNT (2.6).

“Oliver Optimistic” says not so fast. Through the Kentucky race the previous weekend, TV ratings are up double digits in major markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore and West Palm Beach.

And more to the point of engaging fans on different platforms, NASCAR rolled some impressive bumps in terms of interaction.

Engagement with content on the NASCAR social platforms is up 83% year over year, with more than 114 million total engagements.

The NASCAR Facebook and Twitter accounts have generated more than 2.3 billion impressions to date this year.

There have been more than 76 million video views on the NASCAR Facebook and Twitter accounts, more than five times as many as last year.

Matt Kenseth gets popped

A car failing post-race inspection is kind of a little dirty asterisk next to a driver, but nothing noteworthy. Winner Matt Kenseth’s Toyota failed the postrace technical-measurements inspection at New Hampshire. Penalties have yet to be announced, but don’t expect any news that will rock the NASCAR Nation.

Perhaps it should be, said NBC Sports analyst and former Cup champion Dale Jarrett:

“This is the third time this [infraction] has been found this year,” Jarrett said. “Kyle Larson and Kasey Kahne have already been through this. Maybe this is the time to up the penalty a little bit to get people’s attention. If this is something race teams are doing to make their cars better, than they are getting a slight advantage.”

This was the first time a race winner has been cited for a postrace infraction since 2013.

John Wes Townley is out

John Wes Townley will not be able to compete in the Camping World Truck Series race Wednesday at Eldora Speedway because he remains under treatment for a possible concussion. ARCA competitor Brady Boswell will step in and take Townley’s ride in the No. 05 Zaxby’s/Jive Communications Chevrolet. On Friday night, veteran driver and NASCAR on NBC analyst Parker Kligerman will sub for Townley in the ARCA Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200.

Townley is scheduled to be reevaluated by his physician July 25 and will need medical clearance before returning to competition.