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Tony Stewart, driver of the No.14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, has been sidelined since the beginning of the season due to an off-season injury. That hasn’t kept him from the track, though, as he has been attending each weekend since last month to oversee the four cars he owns.
“I feel great,” he said. “I’ve been doing everything the last week that I wanted to do… If you step off a curb wrong or you step too hard, you’re definitely reminded that you have these rods in your back. Other than that, I feel really well.”
While in San Diego with friends, the dune buggy he was driving plunged over a dune resulting in him suffering a broken back that would require surgery with rods.
The Indiana native will have follow up scans later this month which will give a better time-frame for his return to racing.
“It’s just a matter of waiting till they… I’m anxious to get the scans,” he said. “It’s driving me crazy wanting to see what it looks like and then listening to the diagnosis and when they think they’re going to let me go.”
This season marks the final season for the three-time champion as he will be retiring at the end of the 2016 season. While As he has been sidelined with the injury Stewart Haas Racing has used two interim drivers – Ty Dillon and Brian Vickers. Stewart has been attending the races and coaching his drivers with advice.
“It’s been a great asset,” Vickers said. “Tony has been great to work with. Tony and I have always had a mutual respect and always got along. He has been great to work with me. Well I won’t say we always get along(Laughs). But we’ve by and large got along outside the race car. ”
“How he has stepped into this role as kind of an owner, coach, mentor, whatever you want to call it, has been really impressive. I know it’s hard for him not to be in the car, but I think he is really enjoying it. I think in a way, you know you are thinking a lot about what his future looks like after this season.”
For now its waiting game for Stewart till he has the clearance from his doctors to race again. But he is using this time to shape his teams as a team owner, a role that he will be falling into after he races his last race this season.
