Tony Stewart will not win a Daytona 500 during his Sprint Cup career as he will miss the start of his final Sprint Cup season to recover from a broken back suffered Sunday while riding a dune buggy in the California dunes.
Stewart suffered a burst fracture of his L1 vertebra and had surgery Wednesday in North Carolina, according to a Stewart-Haas Racing news release issued Thursday. No timetable was given for his return, but the news release indicated that 44-year-old Stewart is expected to make a "full recovery" and will return to Sprint Cup racing this year.