Tony Stewart is waiting as anxiously as anyone for an update on his medical condition.
Stewart was at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday and spoke to reporters about the status of his recovery. The three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion suffered a burst fracture of his L1 vertebra in an all-terrain vehicle on Jan. 31. He will have an X-ray in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday that will offer insight into his progress. He says it's his first X-ray since he had surgery a few days after his injury. Stewart has not raced this season and has no current timeline for a return.
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Stewart, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing's NASCAR Sprint Cup team, was at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend. He admits his doctors prefer he not travel, but the chance to support both his team and the driver competing in his No. 14 Chevrolet — Brian Vickers at Daytona and this weekend, Ty Dillon at Atlanta — lured him back to his sport.
.@TonyStewart talking to media at #LVMS Media Center about his back rehab, etc. pic.twitter.com/IAq1ZJ66wk
— Las Vegas Speedway (@LVMotorSpeedway) March 4, 2016
This week's race, the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas, begins about 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday. TV coverage will be on Fox.
"I wish I knew," he told reporters at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when asked for an update, outlining his upcoming X-ray. "…For a month now I haven't done anything but just kind of chill out. The doctors want me laying in bed and walking, they don't want me sitting and standing. I'm definitely breaking the rules."
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He says he and his team have taken precautions when he travels to the track — but that he simply cannot be sidelined and inactive.
"I can't lay in bed any longer; it's about to kill me," he said. "We did everything short of bubble wrap me to get me on the plane to ride out here, so we were as comfortable as we could be. We feel pretty good, actually. It's like anything else. Your body tells you when it's had enough and when it's sore and you've just got to listen to it."
Stewart announced before this season that this would be his last racing in Sprint Cup. He could try to make a run at the Chase for the Sprint Cup if he received a waiver from NASCAR concerning its rule requiring drivers to start every race when he does return.
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Last year, Kyle Busch a broken leg and foot in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona, a day before the season-opening Cup race. He missed the season's first 11 Cup races and was given a NASCAR exemption from the requirement to start every race. He qualified by winning a race — four in five weeks, in fact — and making his way into the top 30 in points to make the championship field.
Busch went on to win the title.
Could Stewart receive a similar exemption?
"I'll do the best I can," he said. "That's all I ever do, is do the best that I can. Whatever they decide, they decide, and I would like to think it's going to be similar to what they did last year with Kyle but the biggest thing I'm worried about is just getting this healed properly.
"That's my biggest concern is just making sure it heals right. I'm anxious to get X-rayed next week because I'm very curious about what the progress has been like for the last 30 days. So we'll wait and see, but it's just a waiting process right now, honestly. Like I said, the biggest concern is just making sure it heals right the first time."
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Stewart missed 15 races in 2013 because of a broken leg. Now, as he tries to balance his recovery with being at the track, he offers insight into just what it means to him to be on hand to support his team &nmdash; and to be around the sport he has competed in full time at the Cup level since 1999.
"I want to be at the track, that's where I always want to be. That's a big deal to me. It's hard. Especially after the leg injury a couple of years ago, I haven't forgotten how long I sat, laid around, you lay around now because you're being told to. I can't do it anymore … I would rather be here and be in pain than I would be at home, be comfortable and no pain. The pain's worth it to me. I don't mind."