Report: Brian Vickers lined up to replace Tony Stewart at Daytona
Stewart-Haas Racing has reportedly found Tony Stewart’s replacement. For Daytona, anyway.
According to the Associated Press, Brian Vickers will replace Stewart at the 2.5-mile oval. However, that replacement is contingent on Vickers being medically cleared to race for Stewart. Vickers missed all but two races in 2015 after a recurrence of blood clots. Vickers was initially sidelined in 2010 for blood clots and also missed time in 2013.
SHR has an announcement scheduled for Friday morning to officially name Stewart’s Daytona driver.
Vickers was slated to compete the full season last year for Michael Waltrip Racing. He was replaced in the No. 55 by Brett Moffitt and David Ragan and ended up without a ride after MWR shut down following the season. His teammate at MWR, Clint Bowyer, is at HScott Motorsports in 2016 and will replace Stewart in the No. 14 car in 2017.
Vickers has missed time because of the blood clots because he can’t race while on blood thinners to treat the clots.
Stewart, who is retiring at the end of the season, is out for the beginning of the year after suffering a burst fracture in one of his vertebra in a sand buggy incident in late January.
Vickers has three wins in 318 career starts. His last win came at New Hampshire in 2013. In 16 starts at Daytona he has one top-five and four top-10 finishes. It’s currently unclear if Vickers will be able to race the Sprint Unlimited in the No. 14 car. Driver eligibility for the Unlimited is tied to the driver but NASCAR could be flexible with the rules and allow Vickers to compete in Stewart’s absence.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
