Injured NASCAR driver Tony Stewart plotting return to paddock
Injured NASCAR star Tony Stewart intends to return to the paddock in the coming weeks, but will not know a timeline for his racing comeback for at least another fortnight
The three-time Cup series champion is sitting out the opening part of what will be his final season before retirement after fracturing a vertebra in a dune buggy crash last month.
The Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner followed Sunday's Daytona 500 from home, but carried out a phone interview with US broadcaster Fox Sports during the event.
"I'm thinking that I'm going to be coming in the next couple of weeks back to a Cup race, but I don't even get x-rayed until March 9 so it's hard to know what the progress of the bone is," said Stewart.
"But I've been up and getting around and moving around a lot each day. I can tell a noticeable different each day from the previous day.
"So I'm feeling a lot better and I'm itching to get back to the racetrack."
Stewart said he had stayed in contact with stand-in driver Brian Vickers and his #14 car's new crew chief Michael Bugarewicz but his involvement in the Daytona events had been limited.
"I'm on the other end of the line but I'm not really calling the shots," he said.
"I'm here to walk them through if they have any questions and give them input when I can."
Vickers' deal with SHR was for the Daytona 500 only and the team's substitute driver plans for the next race at Atlanta and beyond are not yet known.
Ty Dillon revealed at Daytona he was in talks with SHR about the role.
The younger brother of Richard Childress Racing driver Austin has a five-round Cup deal with the Circle Sport Leavine Family Racing team and finished 25th at Daytona.
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