NASCAR: Still no return date for Stewart

Tony Stewart is still several weeks away from learning when he can start planning a return to racing as he continues to recovery from injuries sustained in an ATV accident just before the start of the season.

Stewart has been on the sidelines ever since suffering severe back injuries in the crash, with Brian Vickers performing the understudy role in the No.14 Stewart Haas Chevrolet.

"We won't know anything until the end of the month when we go [to] get scanned again," Stewart told NASCAR.com. "Unfortunately it's a lot of waiting right now, which is about to drive me crazy. Tomorrow, in my heart [I could be back], but the reality is I'm 45 and I don't know how fast my bones are healing. It's not like you go in there every week and get scanned and [get] an update.

"The hard part is literally waiting until we get scanned, and they'll have a better idea when we can get back in [the car]. In the meantime, you're just waiting. I feel confident that when they say I'm ready, I will be ready."

Stewart said that he is ahead of schedule with his physical rehabilitation program, although he admitted that he is taking an improvised approach to some of his recovery work.

"I've not been a good patient," Stewart said. "I went to therapy Monday – I was cleared for it two weeks ago – but I went home and did stuff on the property and figured that was therapy.

"Rehab's been fun because I actually got complimented for doing things I'm not supposed to do. I said, 'Where do you think we're at?' And he [the therapist] said, 'Well, because you've done everything we've asked you not to do, you're not going to be spending too much time in therapy.' That was probably one of the few times that I've ever been complimented on doing things I wasn't supposed to do."