Retired Jeff Gordon may step in for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jeff Gordon is ready to pull his firesuit out of storage and come off the bench for one more shot at winning one of NASCAR’s crown jewel races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been parked for this weekend’s NASCAR race and more absences could be ahead. Gordon, the four-time NASCAR champion, could make his retirement a brief one and go for his sixth win at the Brickyard next weekend in Indianapolis if Earnhardt is not cleared to return from concussion symptoms.

Earnhardt will sit out Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., and there is no timetable on when he might return.

Gordon thought he was done, leaving at the end of last season and one final championship run from one of NASCAR’s all-time great careers: 93 wins, four series championships and more than $150 million in winnings.

But he was the obvious choice to pinch-drive in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Earnhardt, his former Hendrick Motorsports teammate, at one of his favorite tracks. Gordon won the last of his record five Brickyard 400 victories in 2014.

Gordon was not available to race this weekend. Alex Bowman will drive the 88 on Sunday.

A decision on the Brickyard will probably be made Wednesday.