We’ll have to wait a little longer to find out who will replace Tony Stewart in the #14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. SHR spokesman Mike Arning said the team did not expect to make an announcement about Stewart’s replacement in the #14 before Wednesday. Daytona 500 practice begins Saturday morning at Daytona International Speedway, so the team will need to have a driver ready ‘ and the car modified to fit the new driver ‘ by then.(Fox Sports)(2-9-2016)
UPDATE: ESPN.com’s Bob Pockrass says, [Stewart-Haas Racing’s] Brett Frood told me that he would speak Friday at Daytona as far as replacement driver for Tony Stewart.(2-10-2016)
UPDATE2: Stewart-Haas Racing has scheduled a press conference to announce interim driver of #14 Chevy during Daytona Speedweeks for Friday, February 12th at 11:30am/et. The press conference will be streamed LIVE on NASCAR.com at www.nascar.com/presspass.(SHR)(2-10-2016)
UPDATE3: Brian Vickers is expected to replace injured driver #14-Tony Stewart for the NASCAR season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Stewart-Haas Racing has scheduled a Friday news conference to discuss its plans for the #14 Chevrolet. A person familiar with the situation told AP on Wednesday that it will be Vickers. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team is awaiting word from NASCAR on whether Vickers is medically cleared to race. Vickers ran only two races last season before suffering a recurrence of blood clots. He can’t compete when being treated for the clots because the blood thinners increase his risk of serious internal bleeding if he crashes. Vickers is only expected to run at Daytona, which opens Friday ahead of the Feb. 21 season-opening Daytona 500. SHR is still looking at all of its options for beyond Daytona. Stewart is expected to race at some point this year.(Associated Press), no mention about the Sprint Unlimited.
AND Brian Vickers is expected to replace injured driver Tony Stewart for the NASCAR season opener at Daytona International Speedway, a source with knowledge of the plans told ESPN’s Bob Pockrass.
AND II: Brian Vickers will drive for Tony Stewart at Daytona International Speedway provided he is cleared by NASCAR, a source close to the situation confirmed to NBC Sports. Stewart is eligible for Saturday’s Sprint Unlimited and NASCAR is considering if to allow his team to compete in the non-points race even though Vickers is not eligible for the event. Eligibility for the event is tied to the driver.(NBC Sports)(2-10-2016)
UPDATE 4: Ty Dillon will sub for Tony Stewart in a few races where the #14 SHR Chevy has Bass Pro Shops as its primary sponsor. Richard Childress, Dillon’s grandfather and XFINITY Series team owner, has a long-running relationship with Bass Pro Shops. Brian Vickers will race the #14 in the Daytona 500 and possibly additional races (FoxSports)
