Injured Tony Stewart to miss start of final NASCAR season

Tony Stewart will miss the start of his final NASCAR Sprint Cup season after undergoing back surgery Wednesday to fix a burst fracture of his L1 vertebra, Stewart-Haas Racing said Thursday.

Stewart-Haas Racing officials say that Stewart was then transported to a local hospital following the accident and was evaluated by doctors. Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Camry and 2015 Sprint Cup Champion wished him a speedy recovery. He is also the first driver in the Cup Series to win the championship by virtue of a tie breaker (number of wins during the season is the first level tie breaker; Stewart had five while eventual runner-up Carl Edwards had one).

Stewart suffered the injury while riding in a sand auto with a group in Southern California on Sunday.

Sewart’s organization made a point of saying that the driver was awake and alert throughout the entire evaluation process after the accident and was able to move all his extremities. Hamlin missed four races with a compression fracture involving two vertebrae.

He has not won a race since 2013, before he broke his leg, and was 28th in the final Sprint Cup standings previous year.

As drivers, auto chiefs and crews prepare for the Daytona SpeedWeeks, Stewart is facing the possibility that he may have to watch the Super Bowl of racing, the Daytona 500 from the sidelines in his retirement season.

“I do know the people that helped him …” The location where Stewart is hospitalized is still unknown, according to ESPN.

The back injury means Stewart will not get a chance to race in what was supposed to be his final Daytona 500.