Max Papis will drive Tony Stewart's car at Watkins Glen; Stewart needs second surgery
Aug. 6, 2013
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
Max
Papis will drive the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet in relief of
injured Tony Stewart in the Cheez-It 355 NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series race this weekend at Watkins Glen International, SHR announced
Tuesday afternoon.
Papis, 43, a road-course ace, tested the No. 14 Chevy for Stewart-Haas on July 30 at Road Atlanta.
Stewart
broke his tibia and fibula during a Sprint Car race Monday night at
Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. After being transported
to a local hospital in an ambulance, Stewart underwent surgery, the
team announced in a statement Tuesday morning.
Stewart
remains hospitalized under observation pending a second surgery,
according to the team. There is currently no timetable for
the three-time champion's return to competition.
According
to NASCAR policy, a driver must be cleared by a specialist in the
specific area of an illness or injury before returning to
competition.
A
full-time competitor in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2011,
Papis is winless in 92 combined starts in NASCAR's top three
national series. He has 35 NASCAR Sprint Cup starts to his credit, most
recently in August 2010 at Michigan.
Papis'
notched his lone top 10 in the Cup series at Watkins Glen in 2009. He
has three top fives to his credit in the Nationwide Series,
the best a second-place run in 2010 at Montreal, where Papis lost a
drag race to the checkered flag to Boris Said by .012 seconds.
The
Italian-born driver has three Champ Car wins to his credit, two on road
courses (Portland and Laguna Seca). Papis also started seven
events in Formula One in 1995, with a best finish of seventh at Monza.
Most
recently, Papis teamed with Jeff Segal in a Ferrari 458 to win the
GRAND-AM GT classification in the July 26 Brickyard Grand Prix
at Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course.
Papis
will have to start from the rear of the field on Sunday. The deadline
for making a driver change for Watkins Glen without penalty
was July 30.
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