Tony Stewart still awaiting OK to return, remains unsure of timetable

Tony Stewart continues to await medical clearance that he can return to racing, but he is unsure when that OK will come, he told Fox Sports 1 Wednesday.

As he has since severely injuring his back Jan. 31 in a dune buggy accident, Stewart, who is set to retire at the end of the season, again reiterated there is no timetable for when he will return and he will only do so when declared 100 percent healed. He is scheduled to undergo another scan at the end of the month.

“(Doctors) won’t let me get back in the car if they don’t think the bones are healed enough to be safe inside the race car,” Stewart said on NASCAR Race Hub. “It’s not unsafe while driving, but if something were to happen -- to get into a wreck, get into an accident -- they don’t want to jeopardize it.

“If it’s an arm or a leg or a hand or foot that’s something you can work around, they can fix that. But when it comes to your spine, especially the vertebra in your back and your spinal cord, that’s an area that you cannot jeopardize, you cannot rush it. You’ve got to do it in the right timeframe and give it a chance to heal properly before you get back in a car.”

Stewart said he feels “great” and is able to do everything he wants to do on a day-to-day basis, including operating heavy machinery on his Indiana ranch and driving a street car. But because of the risk of re-injury, he cannot race. He is expected to eventually make a full recovery.

“Hopefully it will be sooner than later,” Stewart said. “But we’re still waiting.”

During Stewart’s absence Brian Vickers and Ty Dillon have shared duties driving the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing entry. Vickers has started five races with a best finish of seventh, while Dillon has contested three events with a 15th representing his best result.

The three-time Cup Series champion and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing was driving an all-terrain vehicle in the Southern California sand dunes when he inadvertently went off a 20-25 foot drop and landed with such force he suffered a burst fracture of his L1 vertebra.

“It’s all dictated off what (doctors) see in the scan coming up,” Stewart said. “When the scan comes back the doctor and the surgeon will be able to analyze how much the bones have grown back and they’ll dictate at what point they think it’s safe for me to get back in a race car.

“And I can promise you, as soon as they give me the green light for that it’s on like Donkey Kong. I’m chomping at the bit to get back in the car.”