The 3rd surgery on Tony Stewart’s broken right leg had been for an infection that appeared after the three-time NASCAR champ had finally started walking a bit following his last two surgeries.
Stewart underwent his 3rd procedure on Oct. 7, and stated during a talk on Tuesday evening on NASCAR.com that the threat of infection had been one thing physicians had cautioned him about after he injured himself in a August sprint car crash.
“I had been much more worried about the broken bone recovery and the skin healing,” he stated. “The physician had been much more worried about infection and stated the very first two months had been the critical time. We had about come to an end of that two months and, suddenly, an area popped up that was infected which meant I had to undergo surgery in the final week. I went from beginning to walk again, like eight or 10 steps at a time, to spending most of my day laying down again.”
Stewart is nevertheless on track to be right back into his vehicle for the season-opening Daytona 500.
During the talk, Stewart fielded concerns from fans whom presented them through social news. He was asked what his biggest concern was before NASCAR’s inaugural Truck series competition this season at the Stewart-owned Eldora Speedway dirt track.
“The one thing we couldn’t control was the climate,” Stewart stated. ”It’s not like a road where you can deliver a jet dryer out and two hours later on have the track right back in form. You are blowing mud around. If it rains at the wrong time, it sets you back for the entire evening.”
Asked if NASCAR would ever race Nationwide or the Sprint Cup series on dirt, or at Eldora, Stewart stated he wasn’t sure.
“I never ever thought I would see the Truck series here, the Truck series demonstrates that anything can occur,” he stated.
Stewart additionally stated involvement in the Coca-Cola’s marketing Racing Family has helped mend relationships between drivers. He feuded with Joey Logano earlier this seasons, and Logano and Denny Hamlin are still not on talking terms following a series of early-season events that culminated in a last-lap accident between the two at California where Hamlin suffered a fractured vertebra.
All three drivers are in the Coca-Cola racing family, which calls for a number of appearances together and commercial shoots.
”The outtakes are almost much better than the commercials,” Stewart stated. ”Whenever you hear everyone talk about the Coca-Cola Racing Family, it’s a household environment. so the dysfunctional family members that we are with Denny and Joey and myself today, we are the three brothers that disagree sometimes.
”It’s one of the few chances where we get to be around each one another and not worry about racing.”