Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart has been cleared to return to competition this weekend at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, the driver announced on his Twitter account Thursday morning.
The 44-year-old Motorsports icon, who announced last season that 2016 would be his last as a fulltime competitor, suffered a burst fracture of the L1 vertebra on Jan. 31 while driving a sand rail in the Glamis Sand Dunes of the California desert with friends and fellow Cup drivers.
Last month Stewart who said earlier this week that he has spent time recovering in Indiana and North Carolina made enough progress in his healing that he was allowed to begin an intense physical rehabilitation to try and help expedite the healing process.
Well, the long wait is over. I’ll be back in my @Mobil1 Chevy this weekend at Richmond. I can’t wait to race again ????? #SmokeWillRise
— Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart) April 21, 2016
“We’re taking a strategic approach to my return,” Stewart said through a team press release. “Richmond is a track where I feel very comfortable and because it’s a short track, the speeds are substantially less. The Goodyear test in Indy is sort of a controlled environment, allowing me to get more acclimated with my car at higher speeds. We’ll start the Talladega race to get the points, but understanding the style of racing and the higher potential of getting involved in an incident, we thought it was best to minimize the amount of time I’m in the car. I’ll return fulltime at Kansas and enjoy every moment I can in my final year of Sprint Cup.
“I appreciate everyone’s patience and all the support they’ve given me the last couple of months, but the best medicine will come this weekend at Richmond when I finally get to go racing.”
While recovering, Stewart has attended nearly every Cup Series weekend, assisting whoever had been substituting for him in his No. 14 Chevrolet, while also handling a more hands-on management role with his other Stewart-Haas Racing teams.
Since the season began in Feb., drivers Ty Dillon and Brian Vickers have been alternating driving duties in Stewart’s car. In fact, two days ago, Stewart-Haas Racing announced on their Twitter account that Vickers would drive this weekend at Richmond. However, with the clearance from his doctors and NASCAR, “Smoke” will rise.
Despite missing eight races, Stewart recently said during the Las Vegas Motor Speedway race weekend that the 2016 NASCAR season will remain his last, regardless of when he is able to return to the seat.
“These are the cards we’ve been dealt and we’ll play the rest of the year out as soon as they tell me I can get back in the car,” he said then. “I’ll be wide-open and 100 percent.
“I’m not going to leave anything on the table each race. I’ll get whatever I can get and at the end of the year, whatever we got, we got.”
In a team press release, Stewart will also participate in the Goodyear tire test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway next week and also start next Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on May 1, but turn the wheel over to Ty Dillon at the first opportunity. Tracks such as Daytona and Talladega are prone to massive accidents that could derail the progress that Stewart has made.
Kyle Busch missed the first 11 races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season last year after breaking his leg and foot during an accident in the season-opening XFINITY Series event at Daytona. Not only did the Joe Gibbs Racing driver return in May and win fives races, he earned his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship with a victory in the season-finale Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway.
Richmond will mark Stewart’s 591st Cup start. In 33 starts at the 0.75-mile short track, he has earned three victories. Richmond is also home to Stewart’s his first career Sprint Cup win, earned on Sept. 11, 1999 when he led 333 of 400 laps.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
