Tony Stewart has always marched to the beat of his own drum.
After offseason surgery to repair his broken back, the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion was on doctor’s orders to avoid sitting or standing.
Stewart followed those orders — until he couldn’t stand the inactivity anymore.
“For a month now, I haven’t done anything but just kind of chill out,” Stewart said Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before Sunday’s Kobalt 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX). “The doctors want me lying in bed and walking. They don’t want me sitting and standing.
“I’m definitely breaking the rules. They didn’t want me flying out here. They didn’t want me in Atlanta (where Stewart attended last week’s race). But I can’t lay in bed any longer. It’s about to kill me.
“We did everything we could. We did everything short of bubble wrap me to ride out here on the plane. We were as comfortable as can be.”
Stewart suffered a burst fracture of his L1 vertebra in an all-terrain vehicle accident in southern California’s Glamis Dunes in late January. He has X-rays scheduled for next Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C., for the first time since his surgery.
Based on the X-rays, doctors will decide when and if Stewart can begin rehabilitation.
“The biggest thing I’m worried about is just getting this healed properly,” Stewart said. “That’s my biggest concern, just making sure that 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.
“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.”
Stewart couldn’t predict when he might be back in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Until then, he said, Ty Dillon will drive his car in races that feature sponsorship from Bass Pro Shops, and Brian Vickers will be in the car for all other races.
Vickers is driving the No. 14 this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
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