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Got LIVE Practice on FS1 right now (((PING)))

France discusses possibility of Chase waiver for Stewart: With #14-Tony Stewart sidelined for an indefinite number of races with an injured back, does the three-time Sprint Cup Series champion still have a chance to make NASCAR's Chase in his final season? NASCAR rules state that a driver must compete in all 26 points-paying regular-season races and be in the top 30 in points to be in the running for one of the 16 playoff slots. The sanctioning body has a history of lifting the perfect attendance requirement, however, in cases where a driver has been out due to injury or another health-related isssue. Such an exception -- formally known as a waiver -- was most recently handed down last season when #18-Kyle Busch missed the first 11 Sprint Cup points races after suffering extensive leg and foot injuries in the XFINITY Series opener at Daytona. Busch ultimately made the Chase by virtue of winning multiple races and climbing into the top 30 in points before the end of the regular season. He also went on to win the championship. Stewart, who is set to retire at season's end, could theoretically make a championship run of his own if NASCAR doesn't require him to enter all 26 regular-season races to be Chase-eligible. While nothing is official, it sounds as though Stewart is likely to receive the same kind of waiver that Busch did, provided he returns to his #14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy before missing too many races. "I think we're going to treat that just as we did Kyle Busch," NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France said Wednesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio with host Dave Moody. "There obviously is a balance ... you can't come in the race before the Chase starts and win that race and expect to cruise on in for the final 10 races. So there's some balance, but this is the beauty of the Chase. We have that ability to make some medical and other important exceptions for things like this. But you still have to compete at a high level over a number of events. We will cross that bridge when we can. I hope for his sake, just like I was hoping for Kyle's, that will be sooner rather than later. And the sooner the better in terms of making a decision on our end." France noted that Stewart's accident wasn't a result of any kind of carelessness on his part, which likely makes him a candidate for a waiver.(FoxSports)(2-13-2016)

Stewart talks about ATV accident and future: Tony Stewart, using the streaming platform Periscope, talked to his fans -- and showed the six scars on his back -- while rehabbing on a treadmill Friday morning just prior to his Stewart-Haas Racing team conducting a news conference naming Brian Vickers as his replacement in the #14 Chevy for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. "We are doing much better," Stewart said during the Periscope chat with fans. "We're starting to get the pain under control and just didn't want everybody to think that while everybody was at Daytona today that I was sitting on my ass here in Charlotte. ... Walking feels pretty good for my back right now." Stewart talked briefly about his Jan. 31 ATV accident, saying he was left for two hours in the sand before his friends realized he was hurt. Jeff Gordon, Ray Evernham and Greg Biffle were among those with him on the trip. "I didn't hit the wrong dune," Stewart said. "I just went over one and just nose-planted into the bottom of it. It was about a 20- to 25-foot drop. It wasn't exactly what I had planned when I went over the lip of it. I didn't think it was straight down on the other side. ... I've never been hurt so bad running 5 mph in my life." Neither Stewart nor his team has said how long he will be out. He likely will miss two to three months, according to doctors who said that would be the time it would take for a burst fracture of the L1 vertebra to heal. Stewart was emphatic that he would not return to race in 2017, as the three-time Sprint Cup champion already has announced this would be his final NASCAR season. "I'm not doing another season since this happened," Stewart said. "I made my decision, and that's it." SHR executive vice president Brett Frood said Vickers is expected to do more races but there is the possibility of another driver getting in the seat before Stewart's return.(ESPN)(2-13-2016)