NASCAR Cup Series

Hmiel recovering, but facing more surgery

Published Oct. 13, 2010 10:06 p.m. ET

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Former NASCAR driver Shane Hmiel, who suffered back and neck fractures in a crash Saturday night during a USAC Silver Crown race, has had two surgeries since the accident.

Hmiel's family reports, via a Facebook page, that he could move both arms on command after back surgery Monday. The family also reported that the Pleasant Garden native, who remains in an Indianapolis hospital, will have surgery Friday to repair a torn artery.

On Tuesday, driver Carl Edwards recounted a story about Hmiel, who was banned for life from NASCAR in 2006 after failing three drug tests: "Shane and I spent a lot of time together when I first came down to North Carolina," Edwards said. "He is one of the nicest and most decent people that I have met in this sport. He is a very good guy. My partner that owns our Silver Crown team with me called me from the race track, sent me a text and told me what happened.

"I think I speak for everyone in the garage in saying that we are all thinking about Shane and hoping that he comes out of this just fine. Knowing Shane, it is hard to imagine him in any sort of physical pain. He is such an upbeat, outgoing guy and we just hope that he is doing well."

STEWART SPONSOR: Tony Stewart announced a new sponsor Sprint Cup series sponsor Tuesday for 2011, but he remains focused on this year's title run after winning last weekend's race at Auto Club Speedway.

Mobil 1 has signed a multi-year deal with Stewart-Haas Racing and will be the primary sponsor on Stewart's car for 11 races. Mobil 1 will be an associate sponsor for Stewart in 25 races, along with being an associate sponsor on teammate Ryan Newman's car. Stewart also said that U.S. Army and Tornados will return as primary sponsors for Newman for next season.

On the track, Stewart's win moved him to fifth in the standings, 107 points behind points leader Jimmie Johnson heading into Saturday night's race at Charlotte Motor Speedway - the halfway point of the Chase.

"I still think that there's going to have to be some bad luck on a couple of guys in front of us to get us in that position," Stewart said of taking the points lead. "We've gained 60 points in the last two weeks. Our performance is there. We're controlling the part that we can control "

SHOULDAS AND WOULDAS: Ryan Newman missed making the Chase by 98 points. Yet, had he made it, he could be contending for a championship.

Newman is the only driver who has top-10 finishes in each of the four Chase races.

He finished eighth at New Hampshire, eighth at Dover, ninth at Kansas and fifth last weekend at California. With his one win before the Chase, had he made it, he would have started with 5,010 points. Add what he's done in the first four races and he would be fifth in the standings, 86 points behind Chase leader Jimmie Johnson.

"That would have been a great spot to have," Stewart said, noting the opportunity to have had both of his teams in the top six in points.

RATINGS DROP: Sunday's Cup race from California drew a 2.5 U.S. rating for ESPN - the highest of the four Chase races this season. But in a continuing trend, the rating was down significantly from the number for last year's race, which was a 3.6 on ABC.

TICKETS AVAILABLE: Charlotte Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway have tickets available for their upcoming events. Charlotte tickets can be purchased at charlottemotorspeeday.com, while tickets at Martinsville can be purchased at martinsvillespeedway.com.

PIT STOPS: Plans are in place for Phoenix International Raceway to be repaved after its Cup weekend in February. The project will be done before the series returns in November. ... Fifty-one cars are entered for Saturday night's Cup race at Charlotte. ... Dave Blaney will drive a car this weekend that pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of "The Andy Griffith Show." Blaney's Cup car will feature the main characters from the show and a patrol car paint scheme.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long @news-record.com

* Write a timesaver in here to go right in four lines. A timesaver should go right in here at about four lines.

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