Tony Stewart announced via Twitter on Thursday that he would return to driving the No. 14 Chevrolet in this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway.
Stewart had been sidelined since suffering a serious back injury in a Jan. 31 all-terrain vehicle incident. Both Brian Vickers and Ty Dillon have served as fill-in drivers for Stewart-Haas Racing‘s No. 14 entry this season, which will be Stewart’s last before he retires.
Fellow drivers welcomed “Smoke” back with open arms by saying they are eager to see him on the track for the Toyota Owners 400 (1 p.m. ET Sunday, FOX.)
So cool @TonyStewart is back he has an awesome group of guys led by @BugaMike14 the 14 fans are gonna be very happy this year. #getemsmoke
— Ty Dillon (@tydillon) April 21, 2016
Just awesome to see the news @TonyStewart is back this weekend! Smoke!!!!
— AJ Allmendinger (@AJDinger) April 21, 2016
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— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) April 21, 2016
Welcome back! @TonyStewart
— Darrell Wallace Jr (@BubbaWallace) April 21, 2016
Wow!!! @TonyStewart just broke Twitter! Glad to have you back racing! Wasn’t the same watching without ya. ��
— Justin Allgaier (@J_Allgaier) April 21, 2016
Welcome back Smoke. Looking forward to racing with you @TonyStewart
— Ryan Blaney (@Blaney) April 21, 2016
Heck yea @TonyStewart is back!!!
— Matthew DiBenedetto (@mattdracing) April 21, 2016
Jeff Gordon, who retired after the 2015 season and was with Stewart on the excursion in the sand dunes near the California-Arizona border, was among those welcoming Stewart back on Twitter.
Welcome back @TonyStewart! Great news! Everyone is excited to have you back this weekend @NASCARONFOX & @RIRInsider!
— Jeff Gordon (@JeffGordonWeb) April 21, 2016
Stewart plans to qualify the No. 14 at Talladega but use a relief driver for the GEICO 500 on May 1 because of the high risk of a wreck at the superspeedway. Dale Earnhardt Jr., however, doesn’t see such a fierce competitor stepping out of his car.
I say once he’s in the car at Dega he doesn’t get out. https://t.co/xLS8KA068c
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) April 21, 2016