Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
Since the initial report that Tony Stewart had been hospitalized with a back injury, details have continued to filter out. One of those details included that incident occurred when Stewart, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon headed to the sand dunes after attending the Barrett Jackson Collector’s Car Auction, as reported by Motorsport.com.
On Wednesday night, Biffle spoke about the incident with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s Claire B. Lang.
Biffle stated that he wasn’t near Stewart when the event happened, nor knew what had happened.
“But the dunes are unpredictable and, you know, you can land harder on some spots than others,” Biffle said. “I tell you what, I’ve knocked the wind out of myself; I’ve thought I’d broke my tailbone or back before. I don’t know exactly Tony’s situation or exactly what happened, but it can be done.”
He also added that he didn’t know much of Stewart’s injury, except that people had helped him, Stewart was walking and moving extremities, but was in a lot of pain.
Stewart-Haas Racing released a statement on Tuesday afternoon, stating that Stewart was in hospital with a back injury, and there would be no further information till Thursday afternoon.
“Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, sustained a back injury in a non-racing accident Sunday afternoon,” the statement read. “Stewart was transported to a local hospital following the accident and is currently being evaluated. Stewart is awake and alert, and able to move all extremities. An update will be provided Thursday afternoon when more information is known.”
Stewart announced during the second half of the 2015 season that the upcoming 2016 season would be his last year behind the wheel full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Stewart finished 28th in points this past season with three top-10 finishes.
Due to the dangerous nature of the sand dune buggies, some drivers are prohibited by their contracts to drive them. Bifle states that when he is out in the dunes, most times he is only going 75-80% himself, but also noted that it is due to mostly having someone riding with him when he is out there.
“We can’t live in a bubble,” Biffle said. “We can try to minimize the risk by not doing anything crazy, but things happen.”
