Tony Stewart makes a surprise appearance at Atlanta Motor Speedway
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Well, that didn't take long.
After telling FOX Sports announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon via phone during last Sunday's live Daytona 500 broadcast that he hoped to make a visit to a racetrack in the near future, Tony Stewart made good on those intentions Friday.
Stewart, who suffered a burst fracture of the L1 vertebra in his back in a non-racing incident on Jan. 31, sent the Twitter-verse abuzz after appearing in the garage at Atlanta Motor Speedway where the Sprint Cup Series is preparing for Sunday's Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Stewart, who plans to return to competition later this year, still has offered no timetable for his recovery, except to say that his back will be X-rayed again on March 9.
In the meantime, the NASCAR world was certainly happy to have "Smoke" back in the garage.