Tony Stewart will play hurt and start Sunday’s race, with relief driver Ricky Rudd waiting on the sidelines.
Stewart, a two-time Nextel Cup Series champion who drives the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet, fractured his right shoulder blade after a hard crash at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Sunday night.
The accident happened on Lap 33 of the Coca-Cola 600 and just a day after Stewart took a hard wall-thump in the Busch Series event.
A doctor attending to Stewart said the driver won’t require surgery to aid the recovery process. Stewart was examined Tuesday by team physicians.
“Tony sustained a non-displaced fracture at the tip of his right scapula,” said Dr. Jerry Petty, a neurosurgeon who has consulted with many NASCAR drivers. “It is a non-surgical injury that only time and rest can heal.”
Rudd has been secured by Joe Gibbs Racing to serve as the relief driver for Stewart. Rudd, who has four career wins at Dover, will practice and qualify the No. 20 Chevy this weekend.
Stewart is scheduled to start the 400-lap race. Rudd will be on standby in the pit area to relieve Stewart at any point during the event. By starting at Dover, Stewart will receive all points toward the Nextel Cup driver’s championship.
Stewart, the defending NASCAR champ, is currently fourth in the championship points standings, 231 points behind series leader Jimmie Johnson.
J.D. Gibbs, president of Gibbs Racing, released a statement through the team’s public relations department.
“Tony’s injury is unfortunate, and we are going to do everything we can to get him healed up quickly,” Gibbs said. “Tony is as tough as they come, but we aren’t going to take any chances on making his situation worse.
“We’re very appreciative of Ricky Rudd for being able to drive the No. 20 car at Dover. He’s a proven winner who will allow us to stay in contention for the championship.”
- Rudd to move into 2nd place in all-time starts
- Rudd to make final Nextel Cup career start at Homestead
- Rudd to celebrate 900th career start at California
- Wallace could relieve Rudd at Martinsville due to shoulder
- Rudd to Make Return to Cup with Gibbs?
What I want to know is how will Stewart fair in a car that he hasn’t practiced in and was also set-up for a different driver. This will make problems when he starts the race and it’s possible that he might wreck before Rudd is able to replace him. It’s a pretty sticky situation.