20-year-old
Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne has been allowed to leave hospital in Minnesota
after spending a week at the Mayo Clinic for a series of tests and consultations over the course of a week.
Bayne revealed the news first on his Twitter feed, when he posted "finally going back to NC today! Waiting patiently to get better! Thanks everyone!" on Thursday morning before the official press release confirming he had been allowed home.
However it does not appear that the week of evaluation has brought a definite diagnosis of the cause of Bayne's symptoms of nausea, fatigue and vision impairment, and the clinic says that further assessments will be needed.
"Trevor Bayne was seen by a team of Mayo Clinic specialists where he underwent a series of tests and consultations over the last week,” said Mayo Clinic neurologist Brian Crum, M.D. "This symptom appears to be the result of an inflammatory condition. Further assessments will be made over the next couple of weeks."
Although the nausea and fatigue have abated, the visual impairment continues to be a factor although it is said to have shown considerable improvement after being treated by medication. Dr Crum stressed that "His condition is not life threatening or career-ending. We expect he will continue to improve."
In the circumstances, however, the vision problem does mean that Bayne can't go racing and speeds of nearly 200mph until it has fully cleared up, and the Roush Fenway team has confirmed that 18-year-old Roush Fenway development driver Chris Buescher will once again replace Bayne behind the wheel of the #16 at this Friday's Nationwide series event at Darlington after completing an incident-free run to 17th standing in for Bayne at short notice at Richmond last week.
It's unknown whether Bayne will be declared fit to race for next week's race at Dover International Speedway, or for his next scheduled appearance with the Sprint Cup series in the the All-Star Race in Charlotte on May 21. Bayne qualified for the All-Star competition with his shock
Daytona 500 upset win in February.
"The timeframe for his return to racing is unknown at this point," said Dr Crum. "He will continue to be followed closely by his Mayo Clinic team."