Stewart-Haas Racing names driver of Tony Stewart's No. 14 for Fontana
Brian Vickers will be back behind the wheel of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet for Sunday's Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway, although the team has not named a full-time interim driver for the injured Tony Stewart.
Vickers and Ty Dillon have both piloted the No. 14 in Stewart's absence, as the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion continues to recover from a burst fracture of the L1 vertebra suffered in a all-terrain vehicle accident on Jan. 31.
This weekend at ACS, Vickers and sponsor Janssen are partnering with the track as part of Blood Clot Awareness Month.
Vickers will drive the No. 14 Janssen Arnie's Army Charitable Foundation Chevrolet SS in support of golfer Arnold Palmer's foundation. Janssen will also sponsor the TreatMyClot.com 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race March 19 at Auto Club Speedway.
Vickers and Palmer have teamed up with Janssen to chronicle their personal experiences with blood clots, which fans can view on www.TreatMyClot.com.
Last year, Vickers was scheduled to race in this event with the now-defunct Michael Waltrip Racing team, but on the Friday morning before the race, Vickers announced that he had suffered a recurrence of blood clots. He never raced again in 2015.
"Believe it or not, it's Blood Clot Awareness Month and I was supposed to be at the track this weekend doing some work with my partners at Janssen focused on getting the word out," Vickers said at ACS last year. "I'm disappointed I can't be there, but if there is a silver lining in all of this, hopefully what's happened to me will help to raise awareness on this important health issue."
